Metrobriefs

Blast kills 1, hurts 7

An acetylene tank blew up before noon Wednesday at a home-based steel fabrication shop in Quezon City, killing one of the welders and injuring seven other people. The police said the explosion was so strong, it destroyed the shop, tore its roof off and shattered the windows of neighboring houses. It also cracked open the acetylene tank although authorities said they were still trying to determine what caused the blast. Quezon City Police District Batasan Hills station commander Supt. Eleazar Matta identified the fatality only as Jun-jun. The 33-year-old victim died as he was being treated for massive burns at Far Eastern University Nicanor Reyes Medical Foundation. Seven other people who were also in the shop were injured. They were couple Bing and Leonillo Basinello, welders Albert Legazpi and Alejo Brioso, shop workers Ariel Pastrana and Romnick Javeria and Ailyn Dapiton. They were treated for cuts and abrasions after the explosion sent shrapnel and debris flying in all directions.  Matta told the Inquirer the blast happened around 11 a.m. yesterday in the home-based steel fabrication shop owned by Reynaldo Bernas at the corner of Sta. Catalina and Sta. Monica Streets in Barangay Holy Spirit. In a separate interview with Radyo Inquirer, he said the shop, which was situated in a residential area, had no business permit. Jeannette I. Andrade

Trigger-happy cop falls

Irked that he was being charged for a tire change, a Quezon City policeman who was set to retire in 2015 was arrested the other day when he went on a shooting rampage and wounded a 75-year-old woman. Necitas Encinas remains confined at Quirino Memorial Medical Center for gunshot wounds in the chest and arm while SPO3 Enrique Galapate, 54, who is assigned to the Quezon City police Project 4 station, remains detained. Earlier, Galapate, a policeman for the past 27 years, fired shots into the air when he was asked to pay for a tire change at a vulcanizing shop on J.P. Rizal Street in Project 4.  The bullets, however, hit Encinas who was inside a nearby billiards hall.  Galapate, who was arrested, later apologized for the incident and offered to pay the victim’s hospital bills. Jeannette I. Andrade