Smoke rises from the remains of a Philippine army munitions depot in Taguig City on May 7, after more than 30 people were injured when fire and a series of explosions struck the depot near the country’s financial district, officials and witnesses said. AFP FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—After a fire at Fort Bonifacio triggered a large explosion that destroyed a building and injured at least 32 people, investigation into the incident went into high gear Thursday.
“We will coordinate with the investigation,” Army chief Major General Hernando Iriberri said when he visited the wounded soldiers in V Luna Hospital with Health Secretary Enrique Ona and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin.
“[The] investigation of the fire would be handled by the Bureau of Fire Protection while the Explosive Ordnance Disposal of the Army would investigate the blast,” he said.
Experts gone wrong
Iriberri said that members of the EOD battalion of the Army are the ones most capable of handling explosives but it was just unfortunate that an incident such as the blast happened.
“The EOD, they are the most careful in dealing with explosives,” Iriberri said. “But something like this happened and we shall wait for the results of the investigation.”
He added that they would wait for the results of the investigation before imposing any sanctions.
New home
Iriberri pointed out that even before the explosion, the Army has planned to transfer the EOD to Camp Aquino in Tarlac. He assured that the new facilities would be better suited to house such materials.
“No one wanted this incident to happen, and once these facilities are transferred, we will make sure that the correct measures would be followed,” Iriberri said.
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