COTABATO, Philippines — Twenty-five people were wounded after a bomb exploded near a fire truck sent to put out a fire at a dormitory inside the state-run Cotabato Foundation College of Science and Technology (CCFST) campus in Arakan town, Cotabato on Sunday night.
Seventeen of the wounded remain in critical condition at various hospitals, Chief Inspector Rolly Oranza of the Arakan municipal police told reporters. Among the wounded were teachers, students and a school guard, he added.
Cotabato police director Senior Superintendent Danny Peralta said the victims suffered shrapnel wounds.
Police said someone started the fire 30 minutes before the bomb exploded. Oranza said empty containers with petroleum residue were found around the burnt building.
A portion of the building was used as a bunkhouse of the school’s security force, he added.
Police believe the explosion was caused by an improvised explosive device, but ordnance experts are still determining the exact details.
Investigators have yet to determine who could be responsible for the attack as no group has claimed responsibility.
Police said it was unclear if communist rebels, who are known to be present in Arakan, were involved.
Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza, provincial peace and order council (PPOC) presiding chairman, said police are ready to give protection to prospective witnesses willing to help identify the bombers.
Investigators are certain the explosion and the fire in the dormitory were related, and had been planned to kill or maim as many people as possible.
Mendoza said the local government unit of Arakan is now helping investigate the bombing.
Arakan is a quiet farming community populated mostly by indigenous tribes. – With AP