A police officer and two civilians were injured after an explosion at the headquarters of the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) on Sunday morning, Jan. 8.
Patrolwoman Shyrine Manuel and civilians Fernando Sabidalas and John Mark Garcia sustained “minor injuries.”
Manuel was immediately brought to the West Visayas State University Medical Center while Sabidalas and Garcia were treated by the city government’s emergency response team.
The “loud” explosion occurred at around 10:15 a.m. inside the storage room of the Regional Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Canine Unit (RECU-6).
Police Major Serafin Jun Reyes, RECU-6 head, said the explosion was “probably due to the inappropriate temperature” in their storage room.
“It causes the initiation of silver nitrate (low explosive powder) used in the training of their EOD personnel,” he explained.
Brigadier General Leo Francisco, Police Regional Office (PRO-6) director, was “very thankful” that no one died in the explosion.
He ordered the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) to conduct a thorough investigation on the incident.IMT
