Blast damages houses
DUMAGUETE CITY , Philippines — An explosion that rocked a riverside community Wednesday dawn in this city was being linked by the police to the ongoing turf war between two groups involved in the illegal drugs trade.
Superintendent James Goforth, city police chief, said the 3 a.m. explosion at Purok Sampaguita along Banica River in Brgy. Calindagan, resulted in minor damage to at least a couple of houses, made of light materials, although no one was injured.
Initial police investigation showed that some residents in the area were roused from sleep by a loud exploding sound. Witnesses told investigators they saw a man running in darkness away from the scene. The blast resulted in some broken glass window panes and bore a hole in the wall of a house, the police said.
Goforth said the police have yet to determine whether it was an improvised explosive device (IED) or military ordinance, such as a grenade, that was used by the still unidentified perpetrator. Pieces of evidence recovered from the scene are now being processed by the police, he said.
This is the 3rd time where a blast of similar nature has been reported in the same area in recent months, Goforth added, surmising that it was an act of warning between two warring groups engaged in the illegal drugs trade in the city.
In one of the previous incidents, an unexploded grenade was recovered in the same area, Goforth said, as he also linked the turf war among drug pushers to the spate of killings in the city because the victims were known to be involved in the illegal drugs trade.
Police have associated the turf war between two large groups of suspected drug pushers to the spate of killings in Dumaguete with many of the victims, either killed or injured, or the suspected triggermen, allegedly engaged in the illegal drugs trade, he said. (FREEMAN)
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