DFA Checking if Filipinos among Casualties in Fuel Tanker Explosion in Italy

07 August 2018 — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is checking if there are Filipinos among the dead and injured after a fuel tanker figured in an accident and burst into a massive fireball near the Bologna airport on Monday.

Initial reports received by the DFA Home Office in Manila from the Philippine Consulate General in Milan said that at least two persons died and more than 60 were injured in the explosion.

“We are saddened by the loss of life in the accident in Bologna and pray for the speedy recovery of the injured,” Consul General Irene Susan B. Natividad said.

The Consul General said the Consulate General is in touch with authorities and members of the Filipino Community in Bologna to determine if there were Filipinos among the casualties in the incident.

She said there are an estimated 20,000 Filipinos in the Emilia Romagna Region where Bologna is located.

Consul General Natividad said the explosion was triggered by a fuel tanker that crashed into another vehicle along a major highway near the Bologna airport. END