Calabarzon region police director Chief Supt. Benito Estipona told INQUIRER.net that the situation as of latest is now “under control” after the blast occurred around 6 a.m. inside the Explosives and Ordnance Division (EOD) office.
At least four were hurt, including a police major from the Scene of the Crime Operatives who sustained bruises, while three other firefighters were slightly injured.
Estipona said the faulty electrical wiring caused a fire, which led to the explosion of explosive device stored in the room.
The victims were rushed to the East Avenue Medical Center for treatment.
“That one was totally wrecked,” public information officer Inspector Lisa Reyes said in a separate interview by phone.
According to Reyes, they first saw smoke coming from the same building, followed by a loud explosion after about five minutes. She said they believed the fire, caused by a faulty electrical wiring, triggered the explosion of the bomb which was kept inside the SWAT office.
“When I saw the smoke, we started telling everyone to evacuate because an explosion might follow,” said Rizal deputy police director Supt. Nereo Torrecampo, also in a phone interview.
Torrecampo said they would conduct an investigation as to why there were such explosives inside the SWAT office, when “it’s against our SOP (Standard Operating Procedures). There’s a proper way and place where to store explosives,” he said.
Before the explosion, he remembered even asking the SWAT team about the explosives they brought inside the camp just this morning.
Aside from the SWAT facility, there are four other buildings and officers’ barracks located inside the police camp. Torrecampo said all the other police records and equipment in the other offices were “intact.”
Originally posted at 10:51 am | Monday, Mar 11, 2013