3 children die after man hurls grenade at market crowd in Iligan City

ILIGAN City — A man hurled a grenade into a crowd near a public market here last Saturday, killing three children and wounding six other people, police reported yesterday.

Police arrested a man who witnesses claimed threw the grenade late Saturday near the market, in an area where candidates for the barangay elections were holding a campaign rally ahead of the Oct. 29 village elections, said police investigator Enrique Belacaol.

Probers said the incident started with an altercation among drunks at a store in Sitio Tingcob, Barangay Digkilaan.

Belacaol said witnesses claimed the suspect pulled the grenade’s pin and put the explosive in a bag before hurling it toward a crowd, where it killed three children, wounded six and caused panic.

The suspect Wilfredo Cabugatan Tapnay is now facing murder and frustrated murder charges. He is detained at the central police station here.

Police investigators identified the fatalities as Mary Ann Baton, 16, Darren Daligdig, 10, and Rossel Enlod, 4.

Iligan is in a region with a large number of unlicensed firearms and numerous armed groups maintained by political warlords. Muslim guerrillas also have a presence there. – AP