2 injured in Surigao bus bombing

From MindaNews (Feb 4): 2 injured in Surigao bus bombing

Two persons were injured when an improvised explosive device exploded inside a passenger bus Wednesday morning at Claver town in Surigao del Norte shortly after passengers disembarked for a lunch break, police said.

None of the passengers of Bachelor Express, Inc.’s bus number 365 were injured, but a passenger of a bus parked nearby and a restaurant employee were not spared by the blast.

Initial report said that bus number 365 left Surigao City past 10 a.m. bound for Tandag City in Surigao del Norte.

SPO2 Joel Verano, of the Claver Municipal Police Office, said when the bus reached Barangay Hayanggabon in Claver town around 11:30 a.m., all of the 24 passengers disembarked to have their lunch at the Mark and Mitchie Jay Restaurant when the bus exploded.

“All of them were safe because they disembarked. Had they stayed inside the bus, a lot of them would be killed instantly,” he said in a phone interview.

Verano said injured on the adjacent bus, also a Bachelor Express bus with body number 3017, was Evelyn M. Romero, 41, from Lanuza, Surigao del Sur.

The injured restaurant crew was identified as Maximiana Mamba.

Both were rushed to a nearby hospital, police said.

Quoting passengers, Verano said that the improvised explosive device was left by another male passenger. It exploded in the rear portion of the bus.

Sr. Supt. Julito Diray, provincial police director, said authorities are now conducting a thorough investigation on the bus bombing.

http://www.mindanews.com/top-stories/2015/02/04/2-injured-in-surigao-bus-bombing/