Blast Rocks Philippine Jetliner; 8 Dead, 86 Hurt : Manila: The explosion and fire came as it prepared for takeoff. Investigators look for evidence of a bomb.

An explosion and fire tore through a Philippine Airlines jetliner Friday as it prepared for takeoff at Manila’s airport, killing eight people and injuring 86. Officials said a time bomb may have caused the explosion.

Witnesses said the midsection of the Boeing 737-300 exploded and burst into flames as the aircraft was being towed out onto the runway about 3:20 p.m. for a flight to the central Philippine city of Iloilo, about 300 miles south of Manila.

The plane was carrying 113 passengers and six crew members.

Panic-stricken passengers trampled one another rushing for the exits, survivors said. There were conflicting accounts of how many explosions there were before the fire.

“They were still demonstrating the safety equipment when it occurred,” said Isidro Retaso, 33, of Iloilo. “There were three explosions, loud explosions, and the ceiling shuddered. On the second explosion, I immediately opened the emergency exits.”

Another survivor, Sony Villareal, 30, also of Iloilo, said she heard one loud explosion.

“After the explosion there was fire and thick smoke billowed. Everybody panicked after that. People were stumbling over each other trying to get out of the plane,” said Villareal, whose arm was slightly burned and who also sprained a foot when she jumped down one of the plane’s emergency chutes.

“The explosion was a huge one,” she added. “The whole plane trembled.”

Transport Secretary Oscar Orbos, sent by President Corazon Aquino to report, said investigators were looking into the possibility that the explosion was caused by a bomb timed to go off in flight.

“That’s one of the issues being addressed,” he said.

He said the Boeing 737 was delayed when the airport control tower allowed another airliner to leave ahead. “More people could have died,” Orbos said.

The blast left three large holes in the top of the plane, which was towed to a hangar, where agents of the National Bureau of Investigation began examining it.

Officials refused to say late Friday what they had found.

Oscar Alejandro, director of the government’s Air Transport Office, said the plane’s two engines had not even been started when the blast occurred.

“The plane was just being pushed out. It could not be a mechanical failure. It has to be something on board the plane,” Alejandro said.

Aquino, whose government has survived six coup attempts by right-wing army rebels and is also fighting Communist guerrillas and Muslim separatists in the south, immediately ordered tighter security around the airport.

The bodies of six adults and one child--all passengers--were found inside the burned-out cabin. The child, a 4-year-old girl, was found clutched to the chest of an adult woman, presumably her mother, rescuers said.

Dante Santos, the airline’s president, said flames swept through the plane in only four minutes and that the cabin quickly filled with smoke.

Most of the people escaped by sliding down emergency chutes before flames spread, survivors said.

Airline employee Alvin Rieta said he was a few yards from the plane and heard only one explosion.

“Immediately the door opened and people scampered out,” he said. “We suspect it’s a bomb, but we can’t confirm it.”

Twenty-two of the injured were hospitalized in serious condition and one them later died.

It was not known how many foreigners were among the passengers. Authorities said a Japanese man was treated for burns and that two British women escaped injuries.

Officials said the aircraft was leased by Philippine Airlines in November.