Fund set up for victims’ families, survivors of Bay Area limo fire
OAKLAND —The Oakland nursing home where all but one of the victims of a horrific Bay Area limousine fire had worked Thursday announced the creation of a fund to support the four survivors and the families of the five women who perished.
Fruitvale Healthcare Center spokeswoman Annaliese Impink said donations can be made at any Bank of America branch to the San Mateo Bridge Angels Fund Account.
Four of the five who died were current or former employees, the company says. Of the four nurses who survived, two are current employees and two formerly worked there.
Impink said in a statement the company “and its employees, residents and their families greatly appreciate the support, prayers and loyalty of the Oakland and the Bay Area communities during this extremely difficult time.“
The donated funds will be allocated “based on the needs of these individuals and their families as determined solely by a committee appointed to assist with this process,” the statement said.
The deceased are: Neriza Fojas, 31, and Michelle Estrera, 35, of Fresno; Jennifer Balon, 39, of Dublin, Calif.; Anna Alcantara, 46, of San Lorenzo, Calif.; and Felomina Geronga, 43, of Alameda.
The survivors, who suffered a range of injuries, are: Nelia Arellano, 36, of Oakland; Jasmin “Jazzy” de Guia, 34, of San Jose; Amalia Loyola, 48, of San Leandro; and Mary Grace Guardiano, 42, of Alameda.
The May 4 inferno trapped the women as they headed across the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge about 10:10 p.m. for a hotel bridal party for Fojas, who recently had married but was planning to return to her native Philippines next month for a second ceremony.
The driver was uninjured.
Balon leaves a 10-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son; Alcantara leaves a 14-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter, and Geronga leaves a daughter in the seventh grade and a son in the fourth grade, family members told the San Francisco Chronicle.
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