Mae Cheryl Salundaguit was two months pregnant with her first child when she died in a bus accident in Saudi Arabia over the weekend.
Salundaguit, a resident of Lapu-Lapu City, rode with nine other Filipinos in a bus to buy groceries when the vehicle lost its brakes and flipped several times along the highway.
Salundaguit was with her husband Rafael Salundaguit Jr, and another Cebuana dentist Adhara Cornelio-Tan in the bus bound for Jizan in southwest Saudi Arabia when the accident occurred.
Salundaguit’s brother, Dean Michael Berdin, told Cebu Daily News that she, Rafael and Tan were rushed to the Jizan Medical Center and Tan died hours later.
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“We were shocked when we received a text coming from my brother-in-law on June 20 at 4 a.m., Saturday that they met an accident,” Berdin said in Cebuano.
The Salundaguit couple had been married for two years. Both Salundaguit and Tan graduated from Southwestern University.
Rafael only followed his wife who worked as a dentist in Hayata Asnane Center and he worked there as a clinical technician starting April 2 last year.
Their former colleagues, friends and classmates changed their Facebook profile picture with a black ribbon set on a purple background with the Southwestern University Dentistry title and their department’s logo.
A close friend of Tan, Francis Xavier Solis said a Mass will be offered to both Salundaguit and Tan tomorrow at the Southwestern University.
Berdin said they still don’t have enough information on the incident.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Central Visayas said they are still waiting for word from the Philippine embassy in Saudi Arabia who are monitoring the investigation into the accident.
DFA Regional Director Anika Fernandez said they only learned about the incident when Berdin filed a letter of acceptance to validate that Salindaguit’s family is in Cebu and will accept her remains when it is shipped back to the country.
Berdin said they are now processing the papers to bring his sister’s remains back to Cebu.