-photo by AFP
Officials have said that 14 Filipinos have been killed during a fire in a hotel in Iraq’s Kurdish region.
The Filipinos were employees of the 4-star Capitol Hotel, located in the regions capital.
Elmer Cato of the Philippine embassy in Iraq, has said that he was set to fly to Erbil to help authorities identify the Filipino casualties. He added that the Philippine government will arrange the repatriation of the remains of the victims.
Saman Barzanji, director general of the Erbil health department has said the others killed in the fire included 3 Iraqis, a Palestinian and a still unidentified person. Dozens more were injured and taken to the hospital in Erbil.
The governor of Erbil province, Nawzad Hadi, said initial findings indicated that the cause of the fire was an electrical problem in a sauna.
