Photo courtesy of @tamponriot
MANILA, Philippines—An explosion hit an upscale condominium building at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City Friday night, resulting to the death of three still unidentified individuals and wounding four others.
The explosion took place at 8:10 pm at Unit 501-B, an unoccupied unit at the Two Serendra condominium, Serendra board member Nestor San Agustin told Inquirer over the phone Friday night.
Taguig rescue chief Ronald Galicia, whose team is on stand-by in the site, said three people inside a passing delivery van bearing Abenson’s logo died after the falling concrete slab or debris from the explosion crushed the said vehicle.
San Agustin said the cause of the explosion is still undetermined.
He said the condominium officials’ priority was “to ensure the safety and security of our residents.”
When asked who the owner of the unit was and their status, San Agustin said the information could not be released by the condominium corporation “pending notification of immediate relatives.”
“But there was a tenant inside, and simply put, he is not deceased,” San Agustin said.
He said the affected building remains on lockdown for an undetermined period of time.
In radio interviews past Friday midnight, Taguig City Mayor Lani Cayetano said the residents of the Ayala-owned Two Serendra Condominium were brought in nearby hotels while others went home temporarily to their relatives.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas confirmed in radio-television interviews the alleged blast injured four residents, including a foreigner occupying a neighboring unit. They were brought to nearby St. Lukes Medical Center.
Roxas made an appeal to the public not to speculate on the cause of the explosion, saying it’s still too early to tell whether it’s a terrorist act or an accident caused by some chemicals or electrical malfunction.
He said all angles that caused the explosion are being looked at by experts.
Roxas told the media not to divulge the names of the three dead victims if ever they got some leads on them. He said the families and relatives of the victims should be the first one to know.
Roxas was in the area together with President Benigno Aquino III, Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte, Philippine National Police Director General Alan Purisima and other top military and police officials a couple of hours after the blast to assess the situation and give instructions.
“This is not an ordinary situation,” he said in Filipino.
A news briefing, Roxas said, would take place tentatively at 10 a.m. Saturday to update the public on the said incident.
Originally posted: 8:27 pm | Friday, May 31st, 2013