Abandoned package in Quiapo yields no bomb – police

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An abandoned package thought to be containing explosives triggered bomb fears in Manila’s Quiapo District on Tuesday night.

Police said the package which was found along Quezon Boulevard did not contain any explosives.

A report from the Metro Manila police said a concerned citizen reported the suspicious package left unattended on Quezon Blvd at the corner of Gil Puyat Street (formerly Raon) at around 8:15 p.m.

Members of the Manila Police District’s Explosives and Ordnance Division and Barbosa police community precinct immediately responded to the area.

In the report by Chief Inspector Kimberly Molitas, National Capital Region Police Office’s spokesperson, authorities declared the package negative of explosives as it only contained clothes.

The area was cleared at around 9:30 p.m., police said.

Last April 28, an explosion jolted Quiapo after a “homemade pipe bomb” went off near Tower Lodging House, also on Quezon Boulevard. Fourteen people were hurt in the blast.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria took responsibility for the terror attack but the police later downplayed the terror group’s claim.