An Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) was found dead in a suitcase in Cairo, Egypt, a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday.
“A female OFW was reported on Aug 17 to have been killed in Cairo. Her body was found concealed in a large suitcase which was left around the dump site in Nasr City,” Assistant Secretary Raul Hernandez said in a text message Wednesday.
The identity of the body could not be immediately determined due to its advanced stage of decomposition. It was also not yet clear whether the OFW was collateral damage in the ongoing civil unrest in the country.
“In cooperation with the [Philippine] embassy [in Egypt], the police authorities are ascertaining the positive identity, cause, and circumstances of her death prior to notifying the victim’s next of kin,” Hernandez said.
Previously, the DFA has raised crisis alert level 4 in Egypt due to the civil unrest between supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi and government security forces.
Violent clashes ensued when authorities dispersed a sit-in protest of Morsi’s supporters who were demanding his reinstatement. Hundreds were reported killed with thousands more injured from the clashes.
A month-long state of emergency has been declared by the government.