Antonio Inte Learns Family is dead via Facebook

Antonio Inte of Tacloban, Philippines, was away on a job assignment when his son Lyle sent him a Facebook message that his mother and sister had died. While some speculate that a social networking site is not the way a person should receive notice of a death in the family, it should be noted that communication lines in the city were severely impaired following the wake of Typhoon Haiyan. Wouldn’t a person want to get notice of a death in the family by any means rather than not at all?

Inte quickly returned home upon receiving word and both he and his son found their beloved loved ones still trapped in their home. However, they had to wear face masks as they bid farewell to them. The chaos and sheer devastation did not allow them the chance to have Catholic Priest with them to give a semblance of a religious burial.

When asked about the experience, Inte was both circumspect and tenderly direct as is common of many Filipinos when he said he did not know how to express himself, but “it is final”.

“I don’t know what happened,” said the former merchant seaman who has travelled to Australian ports many times. He opined that perhaps his wife and daughter were sleeping when the waters rushed up to the house.

On The Web:
Tacloban begins to bury its dead after Typhoon Haiyan
http://www.news.com.au/world/tacloban-begins-to-bury-its-dead-after-typhoon-haiyan/story-fndir2ev-1226760111107