Google map of Arakan town in North Cotabato province in southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)
COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 13, 2014) – At least 11 people were wounded in a grenade explosion during a fire inside a school compound in the southern Philippines, officials said.
Officials said the explosion occurred near a fire engine which was among that responded to the fire at the guard house of Cotabato Foundation College of Science and Technology late Saturday in North Cotabato’s Arakan town.
“Civilians were helping put out the fire when the explosion occurred. Investigation is going on,” Capt. Alberto Caber, a spokesman for the Eastern Mindanao Command, told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
He said troops from the 57th Infantry Battalion rushed to the town to help local police secure the area.
He said among the wounded was a policeman. Other reports said as many as 2 dozen people were injured in the grenade explosion.
Police said the grenade was lobbed near the crowd just several meters away from the fire truck. (Mindanao Examiner)
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