4 hurt in Cagayan de Oro grenade blast

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Four persons were injured when a grenade exploded in a village here Tuesday night, the police said Wednesday.

Authorities identified the victims as Julius Javier, 30, who sustained shrapnel wounds on his back; Zaibe Villarin, 29, who was wounded on his shoulder; and two minors who were also injured in various parts of their body.

According to witnesses, three still unidentified men on board a motorcycle stopped in front of a store owned by a certain Javier in Sitio Cabula in Barangay Lumbia, and lobbed a hand grenade before speeding away toward Talakag, Bukidnon.

But before the suspects could get away, witnesses heard them shout “yohoo!”in an apparent expression of delight.

The Lumbia police said the motive of the grenade-throwing could be business rivalry. Javier sells gasoline and diesel in the area.

Recovered from the crime scene were fragments from the exploded grenade.

In a radio interview Wednesday, Lumbia police chief Senior Insp. Dennis Ebsolo, said they already identified persons of interest based on the account of one of the victims.

He said these persons of interest were now being hunted down.

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