Military detonates 500-pound unexploded bomb in Marawi

Explosives and ordnance experts from the military set up a 500-pound unexploded bomb for detonation in Marawi City on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020. (Photo by RICHEL V. UMEL / Inquirer Mindanao)

MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur, Philippines — A team of explosives and ordnance disposal experts from the military detonated a 500-pound bomb here Saturday morning.

The bomb was among the hundreds dropped into the city in the 2017 war against Islamic State militants, but they failed to explode.

Lt. Col. Elmer Oamil, deputy commander of Joint Task Group Builder and commanding officer of the 553rd Engineer Battalion, said the 500-pound bomb was found during the debris clearing operations in Barangay Dansalan.

The military enclosed the detonation site with a six-foot-high blast wall to prevent the spread of shrapnel and fragments.

According to Oamil, the bomb is the 42nd to be detonated since debris clearing started in the war-ravaged city right after the militants were flushed out in October 2017.

Oamil added there was a possibility some more were covered in uncleared ruins which were not yet demolished because the property owners had not given their consent.

A cloud of smoke and dust rose from the ground as a 500-pound bomb is detonated in Marawi City Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020. (Photo by RICHEL V. UMEL / Inquirer Mindanao)

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