Philippine police hunt two people over fatal blast on Holy Thursday

By Jay Jackson, Pakistan Telegraph
06 Apr 2021, 13:42 GMT+10

A manhunt is underway for two people believed to be behind the Holy Thursday blast in Cotabato City.
"We are pursuing a lead, in due time they will be behind bars."
The police chief refused to identify the two individuals.

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - A manhunt is underway for two people believed to be behind the Holy Thursday blast in Cotabato City, in the Philippines, which killed one person and injured two others.

"We are pursuing a lead, in due time they will be behind bars," Maj. Rene Dale Gabuat Cairel, city police station 4 commander, told local radio Monday.

The police chief refused to identify the two individuals, which he said would preempt the ongoing police operation.

Cairel said the blast, which happened at around 6:00pm. along Jose Lim Sr. Extension Road, resulted in the death of Hasmad Kader and wounded two passersby.

Hasmad died on Saturday while undergoing treatment at the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center. He had been hit by shrapnel.

The two other victims, Marguilama Kalim and her son, Yusuph Talusan Kalim, were on board a motorcycle near the old outpost of the police station 4 in the area when one of the three planted improvised explosive devices went off.

Army and police bomb disposal experts also found and successfully deactivated two more IEDs fashioned from 81mm mortars with a mobile phone as a trigger mechanism near the blast site.

Cairel said a review by police investigators on closed-circuit television camera footage from establishments near the blast site showed the presence of the two suspicious individuals in the area before the blast.

(Adapted from a PNA report).

Photo credit: PNA.

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