Compostela Valley blast injures 6, including 3 kids

DAVAO CITY – Six people — including three children — were wounded in an explosion that tore through a fiesta celebration in a village in Nabunturan, Compostela Valley on Saturday night, the police said Sunday.

Investigations were still underway to determine what caused the blast in Bukal village and who could be behind it, Chief Insp. Milgrace Driz, the Southern Mindanao police spokesperson, said.

Driz said the injured children were aged 4, 8, and 9. The other victims were Cecile Nuebe, 41; Catalino Bunol, 40; and Daisy Pandisigue, 18.

She said initial investigation revealed that the incident happened at Purok (Community) 1 Bukal around 11:30 p.m.

“The victims were attending a fiesta celebration at the area when there was a sudden explosion,” Police Officer 2 Marlon Torrefranca, Nabunturan police investigator, told Inquirer over mobile phone.

Bystanders rushed the victims to the nearest hospitals for treatment as personnel of the police’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit responded to conduct an investigation.

Torrefranca said the victims suffered injuries that were not life-threatening.

He said pieces of evidence such as aluminum shrapnel fragments and a soil sample with gunpowder burns were still being processed for forensic examination to determine what really caused the blast. /je