2 hurt in Koronadal City bus bombing

KORONADAL CITY, Philippines — Two were slightly hurt when an improvised explosive device went off inside a bus while its driver was maneuvering through a stretch of the busy GenSan Drive here at noontime Thursday.

The IED was placed underneath a seat in the rear of a unit of the Yellow Bus Line, operating on routes connecting the central Mindanao cities of Koronadal, General Santos, Tacurong and Davao City in Region 11.

In an initial statement, the South Cotabato Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office said a driver of a tricycle trailing behind sustained shrapnel wounds in different parts of his body.

A bus passenger, a woman, was also slightly hurt in the blast.

South Cotabato Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo Jr., chairperson of the provincial peace and order council, has condemned the bombing and asked the police and military to cooperate in identifying the culprits.

The explosion shattered the windows of the bus and tore its right rear siding.

Army and police ordnance disposal experts said there are indications that the IED used in the attack was rigged with a blasting contraption that can be detonated from a distance using a mobile phone.

Tamayo said emergency responders from the Koronadal City government, the Bureau of Fire Protection, the local police and the South Cotabato PDRRMO jointly facilitated the evacuation of the blast victims to a hospital and secured the scene of the explosion.