Grenade lobbed at building in Manila

BOMB SQUAD TO THE RESCUE A member of Manila Police District’s Explosives and Ordnance Division prepares to detonate a hand grenade lobbed at a building on Taft Avenue on Monday morning. RICHARD A. REYES

MANILA, Philippines–Bomb experts detonated on Monday morning a grenade lobbed at a building on Taft Avenue, Manila, the third time the building has been targeted in a month’s time, according to authorities.

No one was hurt as the grenade did not go off. It was later safely detonated by members of the Manila Police District’s Explosives and Ordnance Division (MPD-EOD).

Case investigator Senior Insp. Robert Bunayog of the MPD-EOD said the grenade was hurled around 9 a.m. at the JL Building on Taft Avenue near Pedro Gil Street and in front of the Philippine Christian University.

Bomb squads reached the area minutes after the incident was reported and detonated the grenade which, fortunately for people working at the building, failed to explode despite the fact that its safety pin had been taken out.

“However, we have yet to identify the suspects. No one saw who or how the grenade was thrown here. Even security cameras did not catch the suspects,” Bunayog said.

The three-story building is occupied by a sporting goods store, a copy center and a hobby store, among other establishments.

Bunayog said that people working there had told him that this was the third grenade-throwing incident in just a month’s time.–With Djan Arell Magbanua