Tobacco warehouse bombed

VIGAN CITY, Philippines – Armed men bombed a warehouse of a big tobacco buying company in Sta. Cruz, Ilocos Sur before dawn yesterday, destroying a shipment of Virginia tobacco stored in the facility.

Police said the blast occurred at the warehouse of Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp. in Barangay Sidaoen, Sta. Cruz town.

Administrator Edgardo Zaragoza of the National Tobacco Administration asked police to conduct a full-blown investigation of the incident.

He also asked the provincial police headed by Senior Superintendent Reynante Partible to extend security assistance to the various tobacco trading centers to thwart another attack.

Reports said armed men fired at the gate of the warehouse at around 2:20 a.m. yesterday while a bomb explosion was heard simultaneously from inside the storage facility.

The attackers fled aboard motorcycles driven by their cohorts.