4 hurt in Maguindanao blast—police

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COTABATO CITY, Philippines—At least four occupants of a house owned by a former village chief at Barangay (village) Labu-labu in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao, were injured in an explosion at around 6:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Chief Superintendent Mario Avenido, police director for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said they were still determining the type of explosive used that ripped off the roof of Salik Mlah’s residence.

The victims were rushed to the Maguindanao Provincial Hospital at Shariff Aguak for treatment of shrapnel wounds and one of them was identified as Salapia Mlah, Avenido said.

Initial police reports bared that two or three persons had just passed by the house of the ex-barangay chairman when suddenly, a loud explosion was heard, and four were left wounded. One of them was suspected to have hurled an explosive, which landed on the roof of Mlah’s house.

Maguindanao Governor Esmael Mangudadatu, who just arrived home from Davao City where he attended the two-day ARMM executives’ convention on local governance and good housekeeping, said “the (attack) could surely be personal in nature, but we have yet to find out from our law enforcers if this has something to do with the coming ARMM elections in May.”—With Frances Mangosing, INQUIRER.net
Originally posted at 10:50 pm | Thursday, June 21, 2012