ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Aug. 9, 2013) – A huge explosion late Friday destroyed a two-storey building housing a firecracker store and other establishments in Zamboanga City in southern Philippines, officials said.
The blast was so huge that it shattered the glass windows of adjacent buildings and sent debris flying in the village of Guiwan near a provincial bus terminal.
Officials would not say if there were casualties in the blast, but the explosion also burned the building and its second floor collapsed on its weight. The roof was also blown off from the powerful blast.
The explosion sent mangled roofing sheets and steel doors flying across the street. A piece of the green roof could be seen hanging by an electrical wire and glass shards scattered the street.
It was not immediately known what cause the blast at the CT Fireworks and Pyrotechnics or why authorities allowed the store to stock firecrackers in the building.
Mayor Maria Isabelle Salazar rushed to the site to see personally see the situation as firemen fought to control the blaze and prevent it from spreading to nearby buildings.
She was also spotted consoling a woman who was searching for her sister who works at the CT Flower Shop in the same building.
Salazar spoke to police and fire officials and ordered an investigation into the blast. “I ordered the EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) of the police and military to determine the cause of the blast,” she said.
Councilmen Miguel Alavar, Rommel Agan, Rodolfo Bayot and Eduardo Saavedra also accompanied the mayor.
Just in April, a store selling firecrackers and pyrotechnics also burned down in Veterans Avanue in Zamboanga City and killing two people.
And in January 2011, a warehouse full of pyrotechnics and firecrackers also exploded in Zamboanga City wounding at least a dozen people, and razed many houses, mostly shacks. (Mindanao Examiner)
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