Police name injured in Manila restaurant explosion

MANILA, Philippines — Police identified Thursday the five persons, including a minor, who were wounded in a grenade explosion inside a restaurant in Quiapo, Manila a little before midnight Wednesday.

Superintendent Ricardo Gonzales Layug Jr. identified the victims as as Ashely Salas, 28; Gina Bautista, 35; Renard Lorejo, 22; Razil Bolongan, 19; and Clarissa Paraiso, 18.

The blast at 11:30 p.m. happened inside Sun Beam Restaurant at No. 734 Quezon Boulevard in Quiapo, Manila.

He said waitresses Salas and Bautista were both confined at the

Ospital ng Maynila, while Lorejo and Bolongan were rushed to Jose

Reyes Memorial Medical Center (JRMMC).

Paraiso, on the other hand, was discharged from JRMMC after being treated, he said.

As per witnesses’ statements, Layug said the staff were busy attending to their customers

when a still unidentified suspect hurled a grenade inside the

restaurant for unknown reason.

Police immediately cordoned off the area and conducted a post blast investigation in the area where full ring and lacerated fragments from a MK2 Fragmentation Hand Grenade were recovered, he said.

Police have yet to identify the motive behind the attack, he added.