CLARK FREEPORT- Filipino runners, volunteer nurses and other Filipino-Americans were reported unharmed amid the explosions that rocked yesterday the Boston Marathon, Philippine consulate officials in New York have reported.
A report emailed by Washington DC-based consul Elmer Cato quoted Consul General Mario de Leon as saying that as of 8:30 p.m. (Eastern time), “the consulate general still has not received any report of any Filipino casualties, based on initial information from authorities and leaders of the Filipino-American community.”
There were about 97,000 runners from 96 countries, including the Philippines, who were participating in the Boston Marathon when the blasts occurred. The Philippine consulate in New York immediately coordinated with Boston and the local Filipino-American community on the plight of the Filipinos “to make sure that all Filipinos who were in the area at the time of the incident were all safe and accounted for.”
Philippine embassy and consulate officials noted there were about 10 Filipino participants who had flown to Boston especially for the marathon, apart from other Filipino-American runners and spectators.
De Leon said runner Arland Macasieb informed him that he was with six other Filipino runners who were able to finish the race at least two hours before the explosion and that two other Filipinos were not far behind them and could also have finished the race more than an hour before the incident.
Macasieb also said the last Filipino runner was unable to officially finish “because runners were no longer allowed to cross the finish line after the blasts, noting the 10th runner was two miles away from the finish line when the explosions happened.
De Leon also reported that there were six volunteer nurses from the Philippiine Nurses Association-New England chapter led by Eden Gianan who were in the area at the time of the explosions. They were all safe, he noted.
“The Philippine consulate general in New York responded immediately after the explosions and contacted authorities, hospitals, and our kababayans in Boston to determine if there were Filipinos among the fatalities and the close to 100 who were reported injured,” De Leon said.
De Leon said two explosions took place along Boylston Street near Copley Square within 12 seconds of each other one block apart at around 2:30 p.m. (Boston time) while marathon participants were approaching the finish line.”
He said that police and authorities at the St. Elizabeth Medical Hospital, Boston University Medical, Massachusetts General Hospital, and New England Medical Center were contacted by Filipino consul Felipe Carino immediately after the incident and reported no Filipino casualty.
