Boy, 8, dies in grenade blast

LAOAG CITY, Ilocos Norte, Philippines – An eight-year-old boy was killed in a grenade explosion in Banna town on Thursday.

Joshua Alcera went to a forested area near his house in Sitio Bomitog, Barangay Capangdanan to defecate at around 1 p.m. when the explosion occurred. He died at the scene.

Alcera’s father told police he had no idea where the grenade came from.

The area was reportedly a former camp of communist rebels. – Ariel Paolo Tejada, Raymund Catindig