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Saturday, October 20, 2007
Police confirm bomb caused Makati mall blast
MANILA (Updated 1:10 p.m.) -- A bomb made from high-grade explosives caused the powerful explosion that killed at least nine people and wounded more than 100 others in a mall in the heart of Manila's financial district and was likely set off by terrorists, security officials said Saturday.
The strong blast ripped through three floors of the Glorietta 2 shopping mall in Makati city Friday, hurling slabs of concrete, twisting steel reinforcements, and shattering glass panels. Early police reports said the explosion was caused by a fuel tank.
Post your comments on the explosion at the Glorietta 2 mall in Makati City.
"It's a bomb, but as to what kind of bomb, we are still trying to determine," national police chief Avelino Razon told The Associated Press. "More likely it's a terrorist attack, but what terrorist group, we have no indicator."
Red Cross volunteers recovered the body of a man, the ninth fatality, who was buried under piles of rubble inside the mall before dawn Saturday. The Red Cross reported at least one more person remained missing.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered police to "leave no stone unturned" in its investigation.
She called a Cabinet security meeting Saturday with police and military officials at the national police headquarters.
Police bomb investigators reported to Arroyo they detected residue of RDX, a high explosive, at the site of the blast.
National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales stopped short of directly blaming the al-Qaeda linked Abu Sayyaf, but noted the group has aired appeals on the Internet for international support from jihadist groups.
"What is more ominous here is they may be planning a bigger attack," Gonzales told Vice President Noli de Castro's weekly radio program Saturday. "They will first show a sample. That means that while the bomb Friday already was powerful, it is still just a sample."
Razon said he has ordered additional road checkpoints and deployed more officers to secure malls, airports and seaports, and bus terminals.
The Abu Sayyaf has been included on US and European terror lists.
Abu Sayyaf militants, notorious for kidnappings and beheading many hostages, have waged a bombing campaign for years in the southern Philippines in their aim to establish a separate state for the majority Muslims in the region. Abu Sayyaf and the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah network have also launched attacks in Manila.
Officials said Friday's blast appeared to have originated at the mall's ground-level loading dock for delivery vehicles close to the customer entrance.
Taxi driver Mario Em said he had just dropped off two female passengers at the mall when the blast hurled the two women against his vehicle, killing them instantly. He said he pulled one of the victims, who was pregnant, from underneath his car.
Several months ago, authorities were alerted to an alleged terror plot to plant bombs in Manila's business districts of Makati and Ortigas, a government counterterrorism official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
In 2004, Abu Sayyaf militants blew up a passenger ferry in Manila Bay, killing 116 people in the country's worst terrorist attack. (AP)
(October 20, 2007 issue)
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