Blast in Philippine market leaves 12 dead, at least 24 wounded
A powerful explosion killed 12 people and wounded at least 24 others at a night market late Friday in President Rodrigo Duterte’s hometown in the southern Philippines amid a security alert due to a major offensive against Abu Sayyaf militants in the region, officials said.
Regional military commander Lt. Gen. Rey Leonardo Guerrero said it was not immediately clear what caused the explosion at a massage section of the market, which was cordoned off by police bomb experts and investigators.
Police Chief Superintendent Manuel Gaerlan said witnesses gave contrasting accounts of what happened, with some saying that a cooking gas tank exploded, while others suggested it may have been some kind of an explosive. Police set up checkpoints in key roads leading to the city, a regional gateway about 600 miles south of Manila.
TV footage showed plastic chairs strewn about at the scene of the blast, where witnesses said the bodies of some of the dead still lay a few hours after the explosion. Ambulance vans drove to and from the area following the blast.
Police in the capital Manila went on full alert following the deadly blast.
Duterte, Davao’s longtime mayor before he assumed the presidency in June, was in the region but had not issued any statement. His spokesman, Ernesto Abella, urged the public to be vigilant.
“While no one has yet claimed responsibility, it is best that the populace refrain from reckless speculation and avoid crowded places,” Abella said. “There is no cause for alarm, but it is wise to be cautious.”
Philippine armed forces were on alert amid an ongoing offensive against Abu Sayyaf extremists in southern Sulu province, which intensified last week after the militants beheaded a kidnapped young villager. The militants threatened to launch an unspecified attack after government forces said 30 of the extremists were killed in the weeklong offensive.
Some commanders of the Abu Sayyaf, which is blacklisted by the United States and the Philippines as a terrorist organization for deadly bombings, ransom kidnappings and beheadings, have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group. The military, however, says there has been no evidence of a direct collaboration and the militants’ action may have been aimed at bolstering their image after years of combat setbacks.
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UPDATES:
10:55 a.m.: This article was updated with revised casualty tolls.
This article was originally published at 10:10 a.m.
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