PNP concludes gas, not bomb, caused Glorietta blast
Investigators finally declared yesterday that the blast that rocked the Glorietta 2 shopping mall in Makati City last Oct. 19 was an accident caused by a gas explosion and not a bomb attack.
The Multi-Agency Investigation Task Force (MAITF), which conducted almost a month of investigation, said the group is completing the report on how the gas explosion occurred, killing 11 people and injuring over a hundred others.
An official of Ayala Land Inc. (ALI), owner of Glorietta 2 mall, expressed doubts anew over the findings of the task force, which contradict the findings of foreign experts that were hired by the company.
“After an examination of all the pieces of evidence collected from the blast site, the MAITF concludes and declares that the incident was not a bomb explosion but a gas explosion,” said MAITF team leader Chief Superintendent Luizo Ticman, director of the Southern Police District (SPD).
The MAITF is composed of personnel from the Philippine National Police (PNP)
Metro Manila Police chief Director Geary Barias clarified that the investigators are now trying to determine the possible liability of ALI.
“We don’t know yet the degree of the liability of people involved in the day-to-day operation of the mall. Was it the contractors, the mall administration or other group of individuals? Did they exercise due diligence? These are the questions that have to be studied and looked into,” Barias noted.
“It is not fair to be pointing fingers at possible parties and let’s just wait for the final report. Our presentation today is the progress and the conclusion and not the final report,” he explained.
ALI spokesman Alfonso Reyes said the firm has not yet seen a copy of the MAITF report.
He said the owners of the mall were saddened by these developments and cannot understand how the investigators were able to establish these findings conclusively since the firm’s own experts have ruled out methane or diesel as the cause of the explosion.
“We see no other possible source of gas which could create this kind of explosion and this much damage,” Reyes said.
He said ALI is hoping that the explosion site will finally be turned over to the firm so that the company can make their own evaluation in search for the truth.
Ticman said the 11 fatalities and over a hundred injured victims suffered traumatic injuries and not injuries from a bomb explosion. No bomb residue was found in the skin and clothing of the victims.
Ticman pointed out that the absence of crater and bomb residue, and since no component of improvised explosives device (IED) was recovered, no explosive residue found in the victims’ skin, no sign of tearing effect, and no soothing or blackening on the concave ceiling of the building indicated that the blast was not triggered by a bomb.
“Those initially suspected as possible craters have been double checked and there is no trace of thermal effect. Likewise, swabs conducted proved negative for explosive residue,” said Ticman.
He said laboratory examination on all swabs in the basement, the center of the explosion, proved negative for bomb explosion residue.
BFP expert Superintendent Fennimore Jaudian and his personnel fell sick after they inhaled gas from the basement of the Glorietta 2 mall.
“Me and my men fell sick due to the presence of gas,” said Jaudian.
With the conclusion, Ticman said NBI experts are now conducting examination on the pumps, switches, circuit breakers, and other electrical equipment to determine the source of the spark that triggered the explosion.
“Experts are now finalizing their simulations, experiments, and computations relevant to the explosion. Investigators are now consolidating the statements, reports, pieces of evidence and documents needed in the filing of charges against concerned parties and preparation of the final report,” said Ticman.
Barias said MAITF investigators have met with the experts hired by ALI and explained to them the procedure conducted during the probe.
He said the experts appeared satisfied with the explanation, despite their earlier reservation on the MAITF findings that the blast was an accident and not caused by a bomb.
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