2 Filipino babies from ‘Tent City’ die in hospital

Two sick babies of Filipino mothers who sought help from the country’s Jeddah consulate died in hospital here recently.
The Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Monday that a 20-month-old boy died in a hospital in Jeddah on June 30 after staying at the temporary shelter, known as the Tent City, of the consulate.
“The boy was diagnosed with an infection in the central nervous system and was under medication before he moved into the shelter with his mother,” ABS-CBNnews.com quoted DFA spokesperson Assistant Secretary Raul Hernandez as saying.
Hernandez said the toddler was admitted to a local hospital for several days. “Due to an already weak immune system, the boy had developed a cough while he was at the shelter,” Hernandez said.
He said the mother and child left the shelter on June 27 and returned two days later. The toddler was again taken to the hospital for a check-up.
However, the boy had difficulty breathing the following day, prompting consulate personnel to rush him to the hospital where he died.
The immediate cause of death was cardiac arrest. The mother agreed for him to be buried in Jeddah.
Earlier, a sick baby was brought to the consulate for treatment. Consul General Uriel Norman Garibay was in a meeting when contacted for comment, but ABS-CBN.com quoted him as saying: “The doctor attended to the sick child immediately while waiting for the Red Crescent ambulance to take him to the hospital.”
The baby later died in the hospital.
Garibay added that the consulate has so far spent over 15 million pesos to help undocumented Filipinos with food, milk, water, medicine, hospitalization and even plane fares for their repatriation.