US, Australian feds tapped for bus bombing probe

MANILA, Philippines –  Local authorities sought technical assistance from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Australian Federal Police (AFP) in analyzing a bomb that killed five people in last month’s Makati City bus blast.

Acknowledging the foreign countries’ advanced technological capabilities, Chief Superintendent Jose Arne de los Santos, head of the task group formed to probe the blast, said the findings submitted to them by American and Australian authorities can contribute in their investigation.

He said local investigators are done with the reconstruction of events, which tackles circumstances such as where the suspected bomb couriers boarded the bus, where they alighted, where they left the explosive device, and the passengers’ seating arrangement.

“But they (FBI and AFP) continue to analyze the bomb in case we have missed something,” De los Santos.

Initial probe results indicate that an 81-millimeter mortar with a cell phone as a triggering device ripped through a Newman Goldliner bus last Jan. 25. The explosion left five people dead and 13 others wounded.

Both the AFP and FBI, said De los Santos, submitted their report to the task group this week. But he declined to discuss it, saying “it is a breach of security measures.” He also said policemen nationwide have been mobilized to help gather information that can lead to the arrest of the two bombers.