Ralph and Kith Singco had been trying for a child for four years before tragic accident
A Filipino couple had been trying to start a family for four years - and were about to welcome their first child – when they all tragically died in a car accident, their priest has said.
Last Saturday Ralph and Kith Singco were celebrating their sixth wedding anniversary by posting a video of themselves dancing and laughing at the top of the Jungfrau mountain in Switzerland.
A nurse in a west Belfast care home, she was seven months pregnant with her husband, who worked as a care assistant.
But having travelled back to Northern Ireland the next day, they suffered a horrific car accident at Nutt's Corner, near Crumlin.
Kith and her unborn baby Kate were killed but Ralph survived for several days in hospital.
By Wednesday a gofundme.com appeal to repatriate the couple had raised over £68,000, prompting the couple’s parents to ask people to stop donating.
Father Vincent Cushnahan, of St Vincent de Paul in Ligoniel said the couple were looking forward to becoming a family after trying to become pregnant for a long time.
They attended his church and he knows Ralph's parents to chat with, as they also live in the parish, he said.
Their children and some of their cousins also live in Northern Ireland.
"The reaction has been kind of disbelief especially as they were such a young vibrant lovely couple expecting their first baby,” he said.
"They had been trying for a baby for four years and had just celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary the day before the accident.
"So when they became pregnant they were delighted and overjoyed and looking forward to welcoming this young life into the world and establishing their family.
"And then to have that so tragically snatched away is so tragically heartbreaking.
"People here in Ligoniel really do feel the raw grief of it. But from that has come an outpouring of generosity from people in a way. People have been incredibly generous with their finances."
He said Kith and Ralph had recently bought a home together outside the area but the church was "still very much their spiritual home".
A candlelit vigil is being held at the church for the couple on Sunday evening to allow the local community to show solidarity with the local Filipino community, he said.
Requiem Mass is being held there at noon on Wednesday.
He expects the church, which seats 300 people, will be overflowing with mourners, judging by the "overwhelming" solidarity of the Philipino community, their colleagues at work and the support of the wider community.
"It will be very busy and somber, sorrowful occasion, but will also reflect the culture of the Philippines.
"We have some of their traditional hymns and it will be the community's opportunity for family friends and colleagues to bid farewell to them before they travel back to the Philippines."
On Wednesday the couple's families posted a message urging people to stop donating to the gofund me appeal.
They said: "From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for standing with us, for honoring the lives of Kith and Ralph, and for showing what true community and compassion look like in times of tragedy. Your support will never be forgotten. With sincere gratitude, The Singco and Quinones Family."