MANILA, Philippines - Three persons were wounded after an explosion rocked a public market in Sultan Kudarat Tuesday morning.
Initial reports said that the blast occurred around 11:15 a.m. near the middle of the public market in Isulan town.
Reports said that witness saw a man put a hand grenade near one of the stalls in the market then hurriedly left the scene.
The explosive device immediately went off seconds later, reports said.
The victims were rushed by bystanders to a nearby hospital for treatment, the report said.
It added that prior the latest explosion, Isulan town had been receiving bomb threats allegedly from members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.
Sr. Supt. Rex Dela Rosa, director of the Sultan Kudarat provincial police, said the explosion hurt an ethnic Maguindanaon man who set off the explosive and two local residents, who were to buy something at the public market.
The bomber, whom Dela Rosa identified as Rahid Pangilamen, sustained shrapnel wounds in different parts of his body when the grenade he tossed toward the stalls inside the Isulan public market hit a vending table, rolled near him and went off.
A woman named Mylene Vargas and a male adolescent, whose identity Dela Rosa declined to reveal for his being a minor, were also hurt in the explosion.
“But they are both not in serious condition, unlike Pangilamen who is fighting for his life in a hospital,” Dela Rosa said.
Dela Rosa said the Isulan municipal police is still trying to establish the motive for the grenade attack.
Dela Rosa urged residents here not to panic and to just patiently wait for the outcome of their investigation on the incident.