WW II bomb kills villager in Davao

DAVAO CITY, Philippines—A person was killed while two others were seriously wounded when a 100-pound Japanese World War II vintage bomb exploded in the village of Mandug here Wednesday morning.

The victims were tinkering with the bomb when it exploded inside a hut at around 10:30 a.m., according to Police Officer 3 Timothy Manlatican, investigator of the Buhangin Police precinct.

Manlatican identified the lone fatality only as Luding.

Diosdado Maglasang, 49, and Pablito Hermosa, 44, were in critical condition at the government-run Southern Philippines Medical Center.

Manlatican said no one could say how the victims got hold of the vintage bomb.

“Residents said they (victims) are not from this village,” Manlatican said.

The explosion occurred in a hut filled with newly harvested corn.

A chisel, a hammer and other metal tools were seen near the area, prompting authorities to suspect that the victims were trying to open the bomb.

Major Johngie Tison, chief of the 7th Explosive Ordinance Detachment of the Philippine Army based in the Eastern Mindanao Command, said such kind of drop-bomb is “very sensitive and just a little friction would trigger the blast.”

He said it is the kind of bomb used during the World War II and live ones can last for several decades.