ZAMBOANGA, Philippines – Police said a powerful explosion at a restaurant has killed two people and wounded more than a dozen others in a restive province in the southern Philippines.
Police gave conflicting accounts of what may have caused the explosion, which also sparked a fire Saturday in a restaurant in Basilan province’s capital of Isabela City.
Police Senior Superintendent Alexis Lineses said a cooking gas cylinder exploded and killed two civilians and more than a dozen others, including a policeman.
Regional police official Felicisimo Khu, however, said Sunday that the blast was caused by a homemade bomb.
Security officials have been on alert in predominantly Muslim Basilan following a series of bombings and kidnappings blamed on the Abu Sayyaf extremist group.