5 hurt in blast at Zambo highway

MANILA, Philippines (3rd UPDATE) – A grenade thrown at a bus on a busy highway in Zamboanga City early Monday, July 1, injured at least 5 employees of a fishing company, police reports reaching Rappler said.

An initial Philippine National Police report said the explosion at Maria Clara Lorenzo Lobregat Highway (MCLL) in Barangay Guiwan, Zamboanga City, damaged a shuttle bus of the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority, which is based at the city port. “Malaking explosion,” said a PNP official, quoting local police reports.

Local police said the grenade was thrown at the bus while it was travelling on MCLL Highway near the intersection of Sta Cruz at 7:10 am. The injured were identified as: Luciano Gelaga, Ombre Hamsirani, Orly Villareal, Emil Anita and Eugene Khristian Lozano, all employees of the Sangali Fishing Corp.

PNP intelligence sources said that the port manager had been receiving letters and text messages from “extortionists” identified with the Abu Sayyaf and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front based in Basilan and Sacol islands, where most of the port’s sea products come from. – Rappler.com