11 hurt in Zambo blast

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Seven workers of the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA) and four bystanders were injured after a grenade lobbed by an unidentified man exploded inside a shuttle bus yesterday morning here. 

The shuttle bus was fetching workers along the Maria Clara Lobregat Highway in Barangay Tetuan when a motorcycle-riding man, who had tailed the vehicle, hurled a grenade into the bus at around 7 a.m., city police chief Senior Superintendent Edwin de Ocampo said.

Among those injured were Emil Anitan, Luciano Gelada, Orly Villareal, Ombre Hamsirani, Steven Sustento and Eugene Christian Lozano. They were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment.

De Ocampo said bus driver Jaime dela Rosa, 55, was unhurt.

Dela Rosa said the explosion came from behind and the bus was filled with smoke.

“My passengers, some of them bloodied, jumped off the bus and lay down on the sidewalk to wait for help,” he said.

De Ocampo expressed belief that extortion could be a motive for the attack.