Prankster places IED in Arakan town school campus

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines - A prankster planted an improvised explosive device that has no blasting mechanism near a flagpole in a campus of a public school in Arakan town Monday.

 

The incident sent students and teachers fleeing the school.

 

Inspector Rolly Oranza, chief of the Arakan municipal police, said responding bomb experts discovered that the IED found inside the campus of the Cotabato Foundation College of Science and Technology (CFCST) in Barangay Doroloman did not have a blasting mechanism.

 

“Obviously it was only meant to scare students and teachers, not designed to explode and kill or maim people,” Oranza said.

 

The IED, placed in a small box, was first noticed by a security guard and several students milling near the flagpole, waiting for their 7:30 a.m. flag ceremony to start.

 

Oranza said investigators are still trying to determine the identity of a man seen roaming suspiciously in the campus just after dawn Monday carrying a small box identical with what contained the hoax explosive.

 

Investigators are certain the suspect had access either to a rebel or government ordnance depot.