1 dead, 2 hurt in ammonia tank blast in Pagadian City 

Police cordon off the Ramona Fishing Corporation ice plant in Barangay Tuburan, Pagadian City, after a tank of ammonia exploded and killed one worker. INQUIRER MINDANAO / LEAH AGONOY

PAGADIAN CITY, Philippines – An ammonia tank exploded inside an ice plant in Barangay Tuburan, Pagadian City, on Saturday afternoon and left one worker dead and two others injured.

City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Action Officer Haron Damada Jr. said city responder, members of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), local police, and the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team rushed to the ice plant owned by the Ramona Fishing Corporation.

Damada said workers Brinton Wasawas, 29, a stay-in machine operator from Cebu City, and Alberto Singedas, 60, a harvester operator of Barangay Tuburan, Pagadian City, were hurt in the blast.

Another worker, a laborer identified as Jelmar Montesa Bulay, 19, of Barangay Bubuan, Bayog town in Zamboanga del Sur was declared dead on arrival at a hospital.

BFP and police investigators are trying to determine the cause of the blast. /cbb