Bomb detonation hits snag

CEBU, Philippines - The 25 vintage bombs earlier unearthed at the South Road Properties will have to be detonated at a later date after the booster used by the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) and the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) failed to penetrate a one fourth thick steel plate which resembled the vintage bomb’s shell. 

In yesterday’s initial testing, the booster, which is the commercial equivalent of a C4 explosive, failed.

The 25 vintage bombs were supposed to be detonated today at the Carmen Copper Corporation in Toledo City.

 Philip Zafra, chief of staff of Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, told The FREEMAN that the booster used in the initial test did not pass the standards of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Central Command EOD.

“Wala gyud nakapasar ang booster kay wala naka-penetrate sa steel plate,” he said. (The booster did not pass CentCom’s standards because it failed to penetrate the steel plate.)

The test was done inside the Biga Pit of Carmen Copper Corp. (CCC), formerly Atlas Mining Corp.

Following the drawback, Zafra said the city government appealed yesterday afternoon for the Central Command to spare some of their C4 explosives for the immediate disposal of the vintage bombs.

“We have an urgent need for those bombs to be disposed,” he said.

Zafra understands that Centcom’s stash for C4 is not intended for the detonation of the vintage bombs but they hope for their request to be approved as soon as possible.

Lt. Col. Christopher Tampus, Centcom spokesperson, said that they cannot easily use their limited stash of C4 for the detonation.

Tampus said that aside from the fact that they only have several C4 explosives, procurement of such explosives from their headquarters takes a lot of time.

If the Cebu City Government’s request will be approved, their scheduled test with one of the 150 pound vintage bombs will push through today. 

However, Zafra said Carmen Copper Corp. also expressed concerns that the soil surrounding the blast site might not be stable enough for an explosion caused by a single C4 explosive.

Immediately after the test bomb disposal, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau has to inspect the pit for any soil movement which might compromise plant operations. 

If today’s test goes well, they will immediately schedule the detonation of the other bombs.

EOD planned to dispose the 25 vintage bombs in three separate explosions using C4 explosives.

The bombs were supposed to be detonated in Biasong, Balamban earlier but the city decided not to because of its accessibility. (FREEMAN)