2 dead in balloon plant explosion

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - Two workers of an establishment selling balloons were killed when a steel cylinder full of helium gas exploded in their workshop in a residential area here Wednesday.

The blast felled a coconut tree and damaged a house nearby.

The fatalities, Jay Tribunalo, 27,  of Ilang, Davao City; and Dodong  Jimlan, 14, who was from Davao Oriental, died while being treated of their injuries in a local hospital.

Tribunalo and Jimlan worked for a balloon supplier named Georma Salihul.

Most suppliers of decorative balloons in Central Mindanao now use helium instead of oxygen, which is more expensive.

The scene of the explosion is not far from nursing home for elderly people, the Bahay Maria of the local Catholic community.

The local police are still investigating the incident.

Villagers in houses around the balloon shop wanted the Bureau of Fire Protection to also look into the incident.

“Ang lakas ng pag-sabog akala namin isang bomba ang pinasabog na naman,” tricycle driver Samer Gantah said.

The blast, which triggered panic, was heard as far as the periphery of the Notre Dame University campus some three blocks away. - John Unson