Alert driver steers Husky bus away from grenade blast

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines - An alert bus driver on Wednesday saved his passengers from harm by maneuvering the vehicle away from an M-67 fragmentation grenade hurled by an unidentified person lurking in a grassy side of a highway in Ampatuan town.

Ampatuan municipal police investigators said the grenade exploded at the rear of the Husky Bus, just seconds after its driver, Micor Sarabia, stepped on the accelerator when saw from the side mirror that a grenade was rolling towards the undercarriage of the vehicle.

“He immediately tried his best to move the vehicle away so no one was hurt in the explosion. He did not panic,” said Senior Inspector Ronald De Leon, chief of the Ampatuan municipal police.

The explosion left a dent on the concrete pavement.

Two men riding a motorcycle sustained superficial wounds in different parts of their bodies after having been hit by jagged concrete fragments.

De Leon said they have yet to determine the motive behind the attack on the bus. He said they are also looking at extortionists as responsible for the attack.

The Husky Bus is the lone transportation company serving the Gen. Santos-Cotabato City route, which straddles through several isolated areas in Maguindanao.

Residents of Ampatuan, a politically-restive town in the second district of Maguindanao, are no stranger to bombings.

Local folks have witnessed more than 20 explosions of grenades, anti-tank rockets, and more powerful improvised explosive devices in different spots in the municipality in the past two years.