Boy, 8, hurt in grenade attack near airbase

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines — An eight-year-old boy was wounded and a taxi was damaged when a disgruntled laborer and his uncle fired a shotgun and lobbed a grenade near Lumbia Airbase here on Saturday evening.

Police said laborer Arnold Bacarro and his uncle, Noel Bacarro, went to the house of foreman Allan Albecio to ask for the address of the contractor who failed to pay Arnold’s salary for a construction project near the airbase, an EDCA site.

When Albecio could not provide the contractor’s location, Noel reportedly got angry, pulled out a shotgun and fired it. The foreman took refuge inside his house and called police for help.

Investigators said the suspects left on a motorcycle but returned 30 minutes later, brandishing a grenade and demanding the contractor’s address.

By then, police officers were approaching, prompting Noel to toss the grenade, which exploded in the compound.

The eight-year-old boy was hit in the leg and taken to the Northern Mindanao Medical Center for treatment. The blast also damaged a parked taxi.

The suspects fled the scene on a motorcycle. Police are conducting a manhunt.