Sultan Kudarat police on alert after bus bombing in capital town
CORDONED | This double-deck bus owned by Husky Tours is cordoned with a yellow police line and guarded by a patrol car at an emptied section of the bus terminal in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat province, after a bomb exploded inside the vehicle while it was parked at the terminal at noon on Monday, April 17, 2023, injuring six persons. (Photo from the Philippine National Police)
ISULAN, Sultan Kudarat, Philippines — The Sultan Kudarat provincial police are on full alert after an improvised bomb exploded inside a bus in the capital town of Isulan and wounded at least seven passengers on Monday.
The double-decker bus owned by Husky Tours, which came from Cotabato City and was bound for General Santos City, was on a brief stop at Isulan Integrated Public Terminal to drop and pick up passengers when the explosion happened at 12:20 p.m., police said.
The seven passengers were hurt when the suspected improvised explosive device exploded and ripped open the middle portion of the lower deck of the bus.
Lt. Col. Lino Capellan, Sultan Kudarat police deputy director for operations, said the wounded passengers were rushed to the provincial hospital in this town for treatment.
Capellan said the bus was parked at the terminal located only 50 meters from the Isulan municipal police station and a kilometer away from the Sultan Kudarat provincial capitol grounds.
Injured but safe
“The bus had just arrived [when the explosion happened]. Some passengers disembarked to buy food [while others] went to the comfort rooms when we heard loud explosions,” Allan, a terminal food vendor standing about 50 m from the bus, recounted in a radio interview.
Col. Christopher Bermudez, Sultan Kudarat police provincial director, has been directed to head the provincial-level Special Investigation Task Group to look into the incident, said Col. Rogelio Raymundo Jr., deputy director for operations of the Regional Police Office in Soccsksargen (South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, and General Santos City).
Raymundo identified the injured passengers as John Ruskin dela Cruz, 15, of Calumpang, General Santos City; his brother Jeffrey dela Cruz, 14; Javiren Batican, 13, of Alabel, Sarangani province; Edgar Cochoco, 56, of Malabang, Lanao del Sur; Ramsiya Alilayah, 60, of Apopong, General Santos City; Nur Fatima Macaantao, 25, of Marawi City; and Analia Bagundang, 57, of PC Hill, Cotabato City.
According to Capellan, the wounded passengers all sustained shrapnel injuries in various parts of the body but were now in safe condition in the hospital.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, so far.
In November last year, a unit of Yellow Bus Line Inc. was also bombed in neighboring Tacurong City of the province, resulting in the death of an individual and the wounding of about a dozen others.
The Yellow Bus management received extortion demands allegedly from the Islamic State-inspired Dawlah Islamiya, according to Soccsksargen police.
Capellan said authorities were still investigating if the management of Husky Tours also received extortion demands prior to the bombing of its unit.
