Capital Hotel ablaze in Iraqi Kurdistan

capital hotel
14 Filipinos Killed in Erbil, Iraq Hotel Blaze

14 Filipinos were killed Friday after Capital Hotel ablaze in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, said the Department of Foreign Affairs.

A spokesman for the DFA said that they have informed the Philippines Embassy in Baghdad about the fatalities.

ADVERTISEMENT

As of this publishing, no names have been released of those who were killed in the blaze.

Officials from the Philippines Embassy have noted that they will embark on a trip to Erbil to coordinate with authorities to help identify and repatriate the remains of the 14 killed.

In all, 19 people were killed in the blaze, including three Iraqis, a Palestinian, and another person of unknown nationality.

ADVERTISEMENT

Photos and videos posted on social media showed dark grey smoke pouring from windows on the top floor of the building.

“We are very sad about this. It’s a terrible way to die. They were many and it was, I believe, in a massage centre,” Undersecretary Manuel Quezon III of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office said yesterday.

“We would like to get more details and do everything that is possible to bring our countrymen home and to look at every possibility to assist their families at this time of sadness and need,” he added.

ADVERTISEMENT

Like Us on Facebook