TransCo tower bombed

COTABATO CITY – Suspected members of an extortion group detonated home-made explosives yesterday and toppled a steel tower of the National Transmission Corp. (TransCo) in Kidapawan City, causing a power failure in the area.

Chief Inspector Leo Ajero, chief of the Kidapawan City police, said the tower at Barangay Nuangan collapsed and caused a three-hour power failure that affected many communities in North Cotabato.

“We are still trying to determine the identities of the people that strapped the explosives around the structure,” Ajero said.

Ajero said the bombers used improvised explosive devices rigged with a time-delayed, battery-operated blasting mechanism.

Felix Canja, a key official of the Cotabato Electric Cooperative, said Kidapawan City and surrounding towns in North Cotabato are now temporarily supplied with power by TransCo facilities in Tacurong City.