3 hurt in Cotabato grenade explosion

KIDAPAWAN CITY——Three persons, including a minor, were hurt in a grenade attack in Matalam town, Cotabato province on Wednesday night (Dec. 15).

Major Junrel Amotan, Matalam town police chief, said the blast occurred at past 9 p.m. along the national highway in Barangay Kilada.

Amotan identified the victims as Elizabeth, Florencio, and a 10-year-old boy, all surnamed Wahing, and residents of Barangay Poblacion in Matalam.

They sustained shrapnel wounds in different parts of their bodies and are now confined in a local hospital.

The victims were all in front of a roadside store when two men on a motorcycle arrived and opened fire with a pistol. One of the suspects then lobbed the hand grenade and the suspects then sped away.

Police found caliber .45 shells at the scene.

A CCTV footage showed the suspects loitering near the store just before the grenade attack.

Amotan said the identities of the suspects, as well as the motive for the grenade attack, are still being investigated.

/MUF