Investigators rule out suicide bombing

POLICE and military authorities handling the investigation on the Zamboanga International Airport bomb attack have ruled out suicide bombing.

Senior Superintendent Edwin de Ocampo, Zamboanga City Police Office (ZCPO), said Friday there were no indications that the man, suspected to be the suicide bomber, had triggered the bomb to explode.

De Ocampo said there was no triggering device that was recovered by the Scene of the Crime Operatives (Soco) at the blast site.

Two people were killed while 24 others were injured when a bomb exploded around 6:15 p.m. Thursday outside the arrival area of the Zamboanga International Airport terminal building.

One of the two fatalities, whose torso was in a total wreck, was found to be the one carrying the bomb that exploded.

He was later identified as Reynaldo Apilado, a widower and a resident of Sitio Caragasan, Maasin village, nine kilometers west of the city.

Mayor Celso Lobregat shared the same view as that of De Ocampo, citing there was a possibility somebody had triggered the bomb to explode.

Authorities in Zamboanga City believed on the possibility that somebody had just ordered Apelado to carry the bomb, which was concealed in a backpack.

"Maybe he (Apelado) doesn't know what he was carrying," Lobregat said, citing he could be strapped with explosives and had triggered the bomb "if he is a suicide bomber."

Apelado, who was identified through the two identification cards recovered at the blast site, works as carpenter, the police learned.

Philippine National Police Director-General Jesus Verzosa has ordered the local police to conduct a thorough probe to unmask the mastermind of the incident.

Verzosa arrived in Zamboanga City Friday morning to oversee the conduct of the investigation on the bomb attack. (Bong Garcia)

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