An overseas Filipino worker (OFW) died, while 10 others were injured in a fuel truck explosion in Saudi Arabia on Thursday that killed 22 people and wounded 111, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Friday.

Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez confirmed that Florentino Santiago, a truck driver, died in Riyadh because of injuries caused by the explosion. The decease’s brother-in-law, who was working for the same company, positively identified him.

Hernandez said that Santiago’s remains is in Riyadh Central Mortuary at Shumeisy Hospital, while other injured OFWs are confined in four hospitals in Riyadh.

“The [Philippine] embassy is monitoring their conditions and is in touch with their employers to make sure that all necessary assistance and care are given to them,” Hernandez said.

“The embassy is also coordinating with the employer of Mr. Santiago and his family for his repatriation,” he added.

Meanwhile, on Friday, Palace spokesman Abigail Valte said that Malacañang promise to assist Santiago’s family and the injured OFWs.

Vice President Jejomar Binay, who is also the Malacañang Adviser on OFWs Concerns, asked Philippine Ambassador to Riyadh Ezzedin Tago to exert all efforts to expedite the repatriation of Santiago’s remains.

Santiago is survived by his wife, Jocelyn, and two children ages four and 15. A gas tanker truck exploded on a main road in the Saudi capital. The lorry veered into a bridge pylon at a junction on Khurays Road in Riyadh, causing a gas leak that spread and then burst into flames, destroying nearby cars and a business.

Civil defense spokesman in Riyadh, Mohammed al-Hammadi, said that the explosion took place after gas leaked from the tank of the lorry.

“The explosion and fire happened after leaked gas filled the area. Huge damage happened, in addition to many traffic collisions,” he said.

There was a widespread damage to the area, with dozens of cars mangled by the blast and burned out.

A bus that had been gutted by the fire stood idle on the flyover, with witnesses saying that the vehicle had been transporting workers whose fate remained unknown. Another truck fell off the bridge due to the impact of the explosion, the witnesses said.

Hammadi said that a nearby show yard of construction machinery was also severely damaged by the explosion.

Amateur video footage posted on the Internet showed thick black smoke billowing from different spots around the flyover whose pylons were also damaged.

With reports from Catherine S. Valente, Ritchie Horario and AFP