‘My sight turned blurry; I felt pain in my face’

DAVAO CITY—It started as any other ordinary night at the Roxas market, until an explosion rocked the area past 10 p.m. on Friday.

Among those who died in the blast that killed 14 people and wounded 68 others, according to official figures as of Saturday morning, was a 12-year-old boy and an unidentified woman presumed to be his mother. Worst hit in the explosion were women, including masseuses, food vendors and customers.

Jeramil Bansil, 33, was massaging a customer when he heard the explosion and felt something hit him. He suddenly found everything had become blurred.

“My sight turned blurry and I felt the pain on my face,” said Bansil, one of 34 wounded from the blast and treated at the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) here.

He recalled the screams and the chaos as people scampered in all directions, and saw the bodies sprawled on the ground.

“I no longer knew where my customer went, many people fell, and there was shouting all around me,” Bansil said, while hospital nurses attended to his wounds, most of them concentrated on his face.

Just 12 meters away, Joan Marie Salugsugan, 20, a third year criminology student at the University of Mindanao, was also being treated for wounds.  She was out eating barbecue with friends, when they heard a loud blast. She looked around, saw the commotion and found her friends sprawled on the ground. It was then when she realized that her left foot was hit too.

“I stayed there, and did not move, until somebody helped me because I was hit on my left foot,” Salugsugan said in the SPMC ward crowded with other blast survivors.

Massage section

The explosion came mainly from the massage section of the night market, said Wilfredo Masukat Jr., 22, a dim sum vendor hit by a shrapnel about 12 meters from the blast site.

Masukat’s claim was seconded by Chief Supt. Manuel Gaerlan, who added that it would explain why many of those wounded were massage attendants and their customers.

Of the 14 reported to have been killed in the explosion, 10 died instantly, while the rest died in different hospitals in the city.

A list provided by the Southern Mindanao police office showed that three patients died at the SPMC, and another  at the San Pedro Hospital.

Among the three reported dead at the SPMC was 12-year-old Larida Daniel, and a still unidentified woman presumed to be his mother.  The boy died of multiple lacerations and wounds in his frontal area, right shoulder and right thigh.

The woman, identified only as MS X 88 B, suffered from a cardiopulmonary arrest due to massive blood loss from the number of blast wounds she received. Another unidentified woman died in the operating room.

Dr. Ricardo Auldan, SPMC chief of clinics, said the hospital will shoulder all medical expenses of the blast victims.

“What we can assure you is that we will shoulder all expenses,” he said, adding that as personnel of a government hospital, it is their responsibility to offer their services to the victims.

PRESIDENT Duterte visits one of the wounded at a hospital. AFP

Of the 34 people admitted at the SPMC, 20 were women.

Memorial

Mayor Sara Duterte has expressed her deepest sorrow at the tragedy and assured the victims of government’s help, even as she organized a memorial at 4 p.m. Saturday, at the Roxas explosion site.

“We will not be terrorized by this heinous crime,” Mayor Duterte said, “I call on all Davaoeños. Let us remain vigilant.  Please report any and all suspicious activity, no matter how insignificant it may seem,” she said.

“I am sorry for what happened,” she told the families of the victims. “I would like to express my deepest condolences to the families of those who died last night. I would also like to reassure all of them, as well as the families of those who are injured, that the city government of Davao will assist in all their needs for hospitalization, burial, funeral and day to day expenses. I am sorry for what happened.”

Duterte also reminded other local officials to “stay within the bounds of their official duties, according to their positions.”

She added: “Please leave me in peace to do my job and I’ll leave you to focus on your own work.”