Another Filipino worker killed in Iraq

Another Filipino worker was killed in a possible terrorist attack in Iraq after militants open fired on coalition convoy last week, the Philippine Embassy in Baghdad said Tuesday.

Marcelo Salazar, Jr. died in Iraq on April 14, three days before the death of Rey Torres were both assigned in Camp Victory, a US military camp in Baghdad.

"This information came almost immediately following the confirmation of the death Mr. Torres Sunday night," embassy charge d'affaires Ricardo Endaya said in a report to the Department of Foreign Affairs.

At the time of his death, Salazar was driving a US military vehicle along MSR Tampa, a road that connects Baghdad to Southern Iraq and used exclusively by US and coalition forces, Endaya said.

There was no trace of gunshot wounds on Salazar's body, which means that his death could have resulted from a vehicular accident or terrorist attack against a coalition convoy, Enadaya said.

Based on the information furnished by US military authorities at Camp Victory, Salazar died on a still unspecified time last Thursday and that he suffered from "lacerated lungs and head trauma." His remains are kept in the Camp Victory morgue.

Meanwhile, it was learned that Torres drove to Iraq's Amiriyah District with an Egyptian driver to buy a new ring tone for his cellphone without permission from camp authorities.

The middle-class Airiyah district, where Torres was killed on Sunday, is an insurgent-infested area with majority Sunni inhabitants, mostly former Iraq army personnel known for hostility to foreigners.

It appeared that some insurgents spotted Torres and chased the vehicle up until the airport road where several rounds of ammunition were fired killing the Filipino on the spot.

The Egyptian driver was spared by the attackers for still unknown reasons. The Egyptian escaped unharmed, but is still in a state of shock and is undergoing medication.

Torres remains will be flown to Kuwait within the next 48 to 78 hours, where the autopsy and scaling of the casket are to be conducted before it sent home to the Philippines.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo condoled with the families of the victims and at the same time urged all Filipino workers to leave Iraq now due to worsening security conditions.

"I urgently convey to all the OFW's in Iraq the serious concern and apprehension of the government over the extremely dangerous security situation in that country. The threat to their safety and their lives remain critical, making the options of voluntarily coming home to the Philippines and perhaps seek employment elsewhere more crucial,' Romulo said.

Around 6,000 Filipinos work inside US military camps all over Iraq. They provide services to various US military camps in Iraq as food servers and kitchen helpers.

The withdrawal of Filipinos from Iraq would greatly affect the operation of US camps as they make up the most number of foreign workers there.