Elderly Pinoy couple among hurt in Asiana plane crash

MANILA, Philippines - Some Filipino-Americans on board Asiana Airlines Flight 214 were injured after the ill-fated plane crashed onto the San Francisco International Airport runway, the Philippine Embassy in the United States said.

The Embassy identified elderly Filipino-American couple Ruben and Belen Vallero as the latest Filipino-Americans injured in the plane crash to be reported.

It said officials of the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco have visited the couple at the Stanford Medical Center.

Ruben, 75, and Belen, 73, were released from the hospital today. They sustained "less serious" injuries.

"Mr. and Mrs. Vallero told Deputy Consul General Jaime Ramon Ascalon and Assistance to Nationals Head Rey Sambitan that they were fortunate to have survived the crash. They sustained less serious injuries, contrary to initial reports that they are in critical condition," the Office of the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco said in a news release on Wednesday.

The Embassy earlier identified Filipino-Americans, Maricel Anino Knaus and her two sons as among those injured in the plane crash.

Knaus and her sons, who suffered minor injuries, have already left their hotel and are said to be on their way to their home in Fort Collins, Colorado, according to the the Office of the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco.

"The Philippine Consulate continues to coordinate with government and Asiana Airlines officials to determine if other Filipino-Americans were in the said flight," the office also said.

In its Twitter account, the Philippine Embassy said that its officials have been told that no Philippine passport holders and no Filipino-sounding names among US passport holders were on board Flight 214.

The Philippine Consulate in San Francisco has still not been given access to the passenger manifest of the ill-fated flight despite repeated requests.

#Philippines Consulate anticipated possibility that Filams may be among passengers and has communicated this several times with authorities

— Philippine Embassy (@philippinesusa) July 9, 2013