Four hurt in Zambo blast

ZAMBOANGA (AP) - Two explosions successively ripped through a southern Philippine city’s downtown area last night, wounding at least four people and knocking off power in the area, police said.

A homemade bomb went off underneath a parked van along a street in Zamboanga City where commuters were waiting for a ride home, wounding at least four people, damaging the van and a motorcycle, police said.

The blast at 7 p.m. scattered the van’s metal parts several meters away and partly damaged a nearby wooden house, said Senior Superintendent Jose Bayani Gucela, Zamboanga’s deputy police chief.

While police investigators were sifting through the wreckage of the van, a second explosion struck a nearby restaurant, knocking off power in the neighborhood and shattering the restaurant’s glass panels, police and radio news reports said.

It was not immediately clear what caused the second explosion and if it caused injuries.

No group claimed responsibility for the first blast and investigators were trying to determine the identity and motive of the attackers, Gucela said. — With Roel Pareño