PAGADIAN CITY – Two children were killed and two more wounded in an explosion Friday in the town of Kumalarang in the southern Philippine province of Zamboanga del Sur, police said.
Police said the blast occurred in the village of Diplo and killed two boys whose ages were between six and eight. Two other minors - a girl and boy - whose ages are eight and 13 were also wounded in the explosion.
“At around 12:40 p.m., duty personnel of Kumalarang Municipal Police Station received a report that an explosion incident transpired at Purok Malipayon in Diplo, Kumalarang in Zamboanga del Sur that resulted to the death of two victims and two wounded,” a police report said.
But Staff Sergeant Eliezer Sardua, of the Kumalarang Police Station, said the children were toying with a rod-type rifle grenade inside their house when it exploded.
He said the rifle grenade was recovered by the children from a nearby river and brought it home. “According sa mga imbestigador, nakuha nila yun rifle grenade sa ilog at dinala sa bahay at pinaglaruan at sumabog ito,” Sardua told The Manila Times by phone from his office.
Sardua said an old woman living in the house was unscathed from the blast. “Walang kaalam-alam yun lola sa ginagawa ng mga bata,” he said, adding police were still investigating the incident to identify the owner of the rifle grenade. (Mindanao Examiner)
