The Philippine Embassy in Rome reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) that Ambassador Virgilio A. Reyes, Jr. dispatched a seven-man Embassy Emergency Response Team to evaluate the situation on the ground and to provide the necessary assistance to Filipino nationals and Filipino crew members of a cruise ship that ran aground off the coast of Grosetto, Tuscany, Italy last Friday evening, January 13.
Led by Consul General Grace Cruz-Fabella, the team went to Porto Sto Stefano, the port that serves as the initial rescue center of the crew and passengers of the cruise ship Costa Concordia.
Per initial report, around 4,000 people are onboard the ship, including some 1,000 crewmembers, around 300 of whom are Filipinos.
The Italian coast guard immediately responded to the scene to rescue the passengers, who were brought to Giorgio Island in emergency lifeboats.
The passengers and the Filipino crew members are temporarily housed at a church, in hotels and in schools at the port of Giglio Island. Many have already been transported to the mainland.
At least three Filipino crew members were reported confined in a hospital, located in Grosseto, for injuries due to bad shake/fall from decks.
A rescued Filipino crew member said that the Filipinos are generally safe. An official roll call and accounting of crew members is still being undertaken.
From Porto Sto Stefano, where the passengers and the crew were given food and got listed, they will be taken to Grosseto by bus. In Grosseto, there will be further checking of documents and accounting of the crew and passengers. They will be then be transported to hotels in Genova and Savona where the Costa Concordia have offices.
Along with the response team, a nerve center for operations was activated by the Embassy in Rome to coordinate actions of the response team and the feedback of the Costa Concordia officials and relevant managing agencies, and to ensure timely reporting/updating to the DFA.
(www.dfa.gov.ph)
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