October 21st, 2007, 16:05
Fire in bombed Manila mall causes panic
A small fire broke out on Sunday in a mall in the Philippine capital where a bomb exploded last week. The fire caused panic, but there were no immediate reports of injuries, witnesses and officials said.
The fire was in the kitchen of a restaurant in a part of the mall not damaged by Friday's bomb attack, and fire engines and ambulances were quickly on the scene, they said.
Authorities found the body of a young woman in debris at the bomb site late on Saturday and one of the wounded succumbed to injuries, taking the death toll from the attack to 11, authorities said.
At least 120 people were wounded in the explosion at the Glorietta mall in the heart of Manila's business district.
Authorities said they had no strong leads although Islamic Abu Sayyaf radicals were prime suspects.
Newspapers said a text message to a local television reporter purporting to be from a member of Rajah Solaiman Movement, a little-known Muslim militant group, had claimed responsibility, but authorities dismissed the claim.
"It has less than 30 members and has been inactive for more than a year," a police intelligence official told Reuters.
Explosives experts said the bomb was apparently set off in the basement of Glorietta, a sprawling three-storey complex of department stores, high-end fashion boutiques, restaurants, other shops and cinemas in the heart of the Makati business district.
Several luxury hotels and serviced apartment blocks surround the complex.
The bomb ripped all the way through to the roof of the structure, devastating shops and restaurants. Police had earlier believed the bomb was near a cellphone repair shop directly above the delivery bay.
Abu Sayyaf is said to be linked to the regional Jemaah Islamiah group, which has been blamed for similar explosions in the past, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people on the Indonesian resort isle.
Manila has largely been spared a spate of bomb attacks by Abu Sayyaf and other Muslim rebel groups that have plagued the southern Mindanao region. But it has been hit in the past.
A series of bomb blasts in 2000, blamed on a rogue faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, killed at least 22 people.
In February 2004, more than 100 people were killed when a bomb planted by Abu Sayyaf rebels sank a ferry near Manila Bay, the country's worst terror attack.
Source: Reuters, 21. Oct, 2007
A small fire broke out on Sunday in a mall in the Philippine capital where a bomb exploded last week. The fire caused panic, but there were no immediate reports of injuries, witnesses and officials said.
The fire was in the kitchen of a restaurant in a part of the mall not damaged by Friday's bomb attack, and fire engines and ambulances were quickly on the scene, they said.
Authorities found the body of a young woman in debris at the bomb site late on Saturday and one of the wounded succumbed to injuries, taking the death toll from the attack to 11, authorities said.
At least 120 people were wounded in the explosion at the Glorietta mall in the heart of Manila's business district.
Authorities said they had no strong leads although Islamic Abu Sayyaf radicals were prime suspects.
Newspapers said a text message to a local television reporter purporting to be from a member of Rajah Solaiman Movement, a little-known Muslim militant group, had claimed responsibility, but authorities dismissed the claim.
"It has less than 30 members and has been inactive for more than a year," a police intelligence official told Reuters.
Explosives experts said the bomb was apparently set off in the basement of Glorietta, a sprawling three-storey complex of department stores, high-end fashion boutiques, restaurants, other shops and cinemas in the heart of the Makati business district.
Several luxury hotels and serviced apartment blocks surround the complex.
The bomb ripped all the way through to the roof of the structure, devastating shops and restaurants. Police had earlier believed the bomb was near a cellphone repair shop directly above the delivery bay.
Abu Sayyaf is said to be linked to the regional Jemaah Islamiah group, which has been blamed for similar explosions in the past, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people on the Indonesian resort isle.
Manila has largely been spared a spate of bomb attacks by Abu Sayyaf and other Muslim rebel groups that have plagued the southern Mindanao region. But it has been hit in the past.
A series of bomb blasts in 2000, blamed on a rogue faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, killed at least 22 people.
In February 2004, more than 100 people were killed when a bomb planted by Abu Sayyaf rebels sank a ferry near Manila Bay, the country's worst terror attack.
Source: Reuters, 21. Oct, 2007