The Philippines Saturday resumed its evacuation of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from Lebanon via an alternative route, said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

A batch of 450 OFWs left Beirut Saturday through an alternate land route to Damascus, Syria, where they will fly to Manila on Sunday, DFA spokesman Gilbert Asuque said.

The evacuation was suspended Friday after Israeli air strike destroyed a bridge north of Beirut that the Philippine embassy in Beirut used to transport OFWs out of the country.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered the evacuation of thousands of OFWs from Lebanon last week after Israel expanded its military operation against Hezbollah guerrillas and its warplanes began hitting targets in Beirut and the country's northern parts.

Two Filipino women died late last month in Lebanon under unclear circumstances. Both of them reportedly jumped from their employers' apartment buildings as they attempted to join evacuation.

The government described them as the "first Filipino casualties, albeit indirectly, of the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hezbollah" and Arroyo was said to be furious about the deaths.

So far more than 2,200 Filipinos have returned home from Lebanon while thousands more were yet to be repatriated in the following weeks, said officials.

Source: Xinhua