No Filipinos Reported Among Victims of Deadly Sierra Leone Mudslides

17 August 2017 — The Department of Foreign Affairs today said there are no Filipinos reported to be among the almost 300 dead and more than 600 still missing in the massive mudslides that struck Sierra Leone on Monday.

The DFA, at the same time, expressed its condolences to the families of those who perished in the tragedy.

"We extend our sympathy and prayers to Sierra Leone and its people who lost loved ones in the mudslides in Freetown," Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano said in a statement.

In a report to the DFA, Philippine Ambassador to Abuja Shirley Ho-Vicario said heavy rains triggered the mudslides that engulfed houses in the Regency neighborhood of the capital.

Ambassador Ho-Vicario said the Embassy has not received any report that any of the 115 Filipinos in Sierra Leone were affected by the mudslides.

“We are closely monitoring the situation to make sure that all our kababayans in Sierra Leone are safe and accounted for,” Ambassador Ho-Vicario said. END