Fisherman loses arm in dynamite explosion

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines - A Moro fisherman lost his right arm last Friday in a premature explosion of a dynamite he was to use for fishing at the downstream channel of the Simuay River in Sultan Mastura town.

The victim, Morkah Maruhom, an ethnic Iranon, is now undergoing medication at a hospital in Cotabato City.

Investigators said the home-made dynamite exploded in the hand of Maruhom while he was about to hurl it to a deep portion of the Simuay River, which connects to the Moro Gulf in at the west coast of Sultan Mastura, located in the first district of Maguindanao.

The explosive was fashioned from a highly combustible plant fertilizer mixed with gasoline and sulfur stored in an empty soda bottle.

Maruhom’s arm was severed by the blast. He also sustained blast wounds in the face and chest.