THE MISSING son of the injured Filipino mother in the Aug. 17 Barcelona attack has been declared among the 14 fatalities reported from that incident, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed on Monday after the father of the seven-year-old boy positively identified his remains.

Las Ramblas
A makeshift memorial to the victims of the Barcelona terror attack on Las Ramblas boulevard. — AFP

DFA Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano has directed Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Sarah Lou Arriola to be in charge of all assistance extended to the family of the deceased and to other Filipino victims of the attack.

“It pains us to break the sad news to our kababayans that we lost one of our own in the recent violence unleashed by extremists against the innocent in Barcelona… We join the loved ones of our little brother in mourning his passing and in praying for the eternal repose of his soul,” Mr. Cayetano said in a statement.

The boy’s demise was reported by the Charge d’Affaires Emmanuel Fernandez of the Philippine Embassy in Madrid after his body was identified.

The boy’s 43-year-old mother, meanwhile, is still in the intensive care unit after undergoing surgery for fractures in both legs and one arm that she sustained in the incident.

The mother has been based in Australia for the past three years along with her son and husband, who is a British subject. The mother and her son were in Barcelona to attend the wedding of a Filipino cousin.

According to Consul General Marichu Mauro, the two other Filipinos injured during the attack will be assisted by the Philippine Consulate General in Milan as they get medical attention.

In addition, the four Irish citizens of Filipino descent, who were also injured in the attack, were identified as Norman Potot, 45, his wife Pederlita, 39, daughter Nailah Pearl, 9, and son Nathaniel Paul, 5.

Norman and Nathaniel remain confined at the Hospital Del Mar in Barcelona. The father suffered a minor head injury but remains under observation for hematoma of the kidney. His son is recovering from surgery for the fractured leg he sustained in the incident. Norman’s wife sustained minor bruises while his daughter fractured her arm, the DFA said.

The four Dublin residents are currently attended by the Embassy and the Honorary Consulate in Barcelona. According to the DFA, the northeastern Spanish city is home to 20,000 Filipinos.

A van plowed through Barcelona’s Las Ramblas tourist district on Thursday and left 13 people dead and injured more than 100.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR