This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7052194.stm
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 0 | Version 1 |
---|---|
Eight dead in Philippines blast | |
(30 minutes later) | |
At least eight people have been killed in an explosion at a shopping centre in the Philippine capital, Manila. | |
The lunchtime blast shattered windows and sent debris crashing on to cars at the Glorietta shopping complex in the city's Makati financial district. | |
Some 70 people were hurt in the blast, the cause of which was not yet clear. | Some 70 people were hurt in the blast, the cause of which was not yet clear. |
Police initially said a gas cylinder had exploded, but discounted that theory. A police chief then said a bomb attack could not be ruled out. | |
"I was told by officials of the explosives and ordnance disposal division that it could be a bomb, but it's not definite yet," National Police chief Avelino Razon told journalists. | |
"All indications show it was not a LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) explosion," he said. | |
Police were still investigating and a general alert had been issued for the city, officials said. | |
'Sudden explosion' | |
The blast caused extensive damage to the shopping centre. Concrete blocks and planks fell from the roof and cars outside the mall were covered with debris. | |
The blast left a large crater on the ground floor of the popular shopping mall, said Makati City councillor JunJun Binay. | |
"From what I have seen it was a significant explosion and that most of the dead and injured were all employees," French news agency AFP quoted him as saying. | "From what I have seen it was a significant explosion and that most of the dead and injured were all employees," French news agency AFP quoted him as saying. |
One of the injured, Christine Calope, said that there had been "a sudden explosion". | |
"I don't know if it was inside or outside the mall," she said. | |
Militants have targeted the Philippine capital in the past. | |
In 2004, more than 100 people died when militants from the Islamist Abu Sayyaf group - who are battling the military in the south of the country - blew up a passenger ferry in the capital. | |
And in February 2005, four people died in a bomb attack on a Manila bus. |