2 hurt as grenade explode under police vehicle

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Two individuals were injured when a fragmentation grenade exploded under a police vehicle while on patrol in Barangay Osias in Kabacan, Cotabato late Friday, February 22.

The victims, a caretaker of a roadside chicken barbecue stall and a volunteer community watchman, who sustained shrapnel wounds in different parts of their bodies, were immediately brought by emergency responders to a hospital for treatment.

Officials of the Kabacan Municipal Police Station and local executives told reporters on Saturday, February 22, that the policemen on board the patrol car were on their way to their station from a law-enforcement mission when someone threw a grenade under the vehicle and ran away.

Col. Gilberto Tuzon, Cotabato provincial police director, said investigators are still trying to identify the bomber with the help of barangay officials.

Brig. Gen. Donald Gumiran, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said intelligence agents of their 602nd Infantry Brigade covering Kabacan and towns around, are helping the police locate the culprit.