A BOX abandoned at Edsa and Shaw Boulevard in Metro Manila sparked alarm Friday morning, August 16, and prompted a bomb squad to inspect it.

The box was found to contain styrofoam, not explosives.

Shortly before 11 a.m. on Friday, authorities received a report from a streetsweeper about a suspicious box that is as big as a personal refrigerator on the center island of Edsa and Shaw Boulevard.

A Philippine National Police (PNP) bomb squad and personnel from the PNP Explosives and Ordnance Division cordoned off the area and inspected the package.

Police said investigation is ongoing to determine who left the box.

The incident worsened traffic flow along Edsa and in the peripheral areas as the police implemented a total lockdown in the vicinity of the box's location. (SunStar Philippines)