3 killed, 17 injured in Cavite explosion

Camp Vicente Lim, Laguna – Two men and a fourth year high school coed were killed while 17 others were injured when an explosion ripped through a two-story apartment in a coastal village in Rosario, Cavite past noon yesterday, police said.

Superintendent Edgar Roquero, Rosario police chief, said they found traces of blasting caps and explosive powder in the three-door apartment on A.C. Mercado street in Barangay Wawa Uno, fuelling suspicions that dynamite could been manufactured there.

The blast, which occurred at around 12:30 p.m., also damaged at least six other houses.

Roquero said probers were determining if the explosion was similar to what happened in a house used for storage and manufacture of dynamite for illegal fishing in Barangay Panapaan, Bacoor town last November where six people were killed.

Investigation showed that blasting caps produced there were sold to fishermen in Quezon and the Bicol region.

Roquero identified one of the three fatalities in yesterday’s blast as Jenelyn Calalo, 17, a high school senior at the Rosario Institute and daughter of Guam-based Teresita Calalo, who owned the house.

The two others, both males, remained unidentified as of press time because of their severe burns, especially on their faces, Roquero said.

Those injured were Amelia Anosa, Eugene Hernandez, 17, Janilyn Trinidad, 17, and 14 others who were brought to the Saviour Hospital, SMC Hospital, Contreras Hospital and hospitals in Metro Manila. 

Rosario Mayor Nonong Ricafrente rushed to the blast scene and led in giving first aid to the injured.

Ricafrente said in a radio interview that he ordered that a scaffolding be put up to prevent the apartment from totally collapsing as the search for other people possibly buried in the rubble continues.