Stored bomb detonates inside DCPO compound

Photo by PDEA 11

A bomb stocked inside the storage room of the Special Anti-Terrorism Unit (SATU) inside the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) compound in Camp Domingo Leonor along San Pedro Street exploded before noon on Black Saturday damaging a portion of the building and undetermined number of stockpiled weapons.

A sketchy report provided by the Police Regional Office (PRO) 11 shortly after the incident said the explosion happened at DCPO’s explosive and ordnance disposal (EOD) unit around 11:30 am, yanking off the stockroom’s ceiling and destroying some weapons inside although no casualties were reported.

According to DCPO director Police Colonel Alexander Tagum, the explosive material that went off on April 20 was among the pieces of court evidence stored inside the stockroom for custody.

“Those explosives are being kept in custody of our EOD unit at their Storage area considering that these are still kept as Court evidence. In spite it’s proper storage (in accordance to EOD Storage Standard), it accidentally exploded- for still unknown reason,” the police city director said.

As of press time, a post-blast investigation was being conducted to determine what triggered the accidental explosion, according to Tagum. Clearing operations were also being conducted by the EOD units of PRO 11 and DCPO.

In a separate interview, Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) Davao officer-in-charge Senior Fire Officer (SFO) 2 Ramil Gillado said the explosion fortunately didn’t cause any fire.

“Naa lang mga smoke from the explosion pero wala may sunog nahitabo. Nag conduct lang mi ug cooling system to prevent any possible fire,” he said.

Aside from the BFP, the Central 911 also promptly responded during the incident.

Meanwhile, DCPO spokesperson Police Captain Ma. Teresita Gaspan urged the public to refrain from spreading false information while the authorities are still conducting further investigation.

“Please bear with us as investigation relative to this incident is ongoing. Official statement will be released the soonest. We further advise everyone to refrain from spreading false or unverified information,” she said.

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