Grenade blast kills 3 children in Iligan

ILIGAN (AP) - A man hurled a grenade into a crowd near a public market in Iligan, killing three children and wounding six other people, police said Sunday.

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

Belacaol said witnesses claimed the man, who was being investigated, 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 other people and caused panic.

Iligan, about 780 kilometers (485 miles) southeast of Manila, 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.