DFA: 7-year-old Filipino boy among casualties in Barcelona attack

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Foreign Affairs on Monday reported that a 7-year-old Filipino boy earlier reported missing is among the fatalities in the van attack in Barcelona, Spain.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano confirmed the death of Julian Cadman, a British-Australian son of a Filipino woman who was injured in 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,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said in a press statement.

“We join the loved ones of our little brother in mourning his passing and in praying for the eternal repose of his soul,” he added.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Sarah Arriola initially reported that the boy was reported missing after the Las Ramblas van attack, when he got separated to his mother. However, Cayetano said the report from Chargé d'Affaires Emmanuel Fernandez of the Philippine Embassy in Madrid said that the boy's remains have been identified by his father.

Cayetano reportedly ordered Arriola to extend assistance to the family of the Fil-Brit victim and other Filipino victims in the Barcelona van attack.

Meanwhile, Julian’s mother, a 43-year-old woman who has been living in Australia, remains in the intensive care unit. The DFA said Julian’s mother is undergoing surgery for fractures in both legs and one arm.

Aside from Julian’s mother, two other Filipinos based in Italy and four Irish nationals of Filipino descent were hurt in the Barcelona van attack.

Fourteen people passed away after a white van jumped the sidewalk in the historic Las Ramblas district, crashing into a summer crowd of residents and tourists and injuring several people. —Rosette Adel with a report from the Associated Press