After Cotabato City blast, IED rocks Midsayap but injures no one

An explosion wrecked the waiting area in front of a pawnshop in Midsayap town in North Cotabato province before dawn Wednesday.

Midsayap is just 32 kilometers east of Cotabato City where a much deadlier car bomb explosion occurred last Monday. No one was reported injured in the Midsayap blast, and local police declined to speculate if it was related to the incident in Cotabato City where eight were killed.

Superintendent Reynante delos Santos told radio dzBB that their initial findings showed an improvised explosive device blew up under a concrete bench in front of a building that housed a pawnshop on the ground floor.

Delos Santos said no one was reported injured in the blast, and declined to speculate if it was related to the much deadlier car bomb blast in Cotabato City on Monday. "Nagpapasalamat tayo walang casualty, may damage sa rolling door," he said.

But the explosion could have been deadly if the incident happened hours later, said the owner of a radio station located on the second floor of the building damaged by the blast.

“Kung nagkataon po na open na ang establisyamento [at] 7:00 a.m. nangyari 'yan marami pong tao talaga diyan ang mapapahamak [dahil maraming] gumagamit ng building...," WOW Radio station owner Rolly Sacdalan said in an interview on “News to Go.”

The blast scene in Midsayap was cordoned off and being probed for clues. Shops were closed, and no one was allowed to disturb the site, a contrast with the July 26 blast site in Cagayan de Oro which was cleaned up quickly, removing any remaining clues in the debris.

Delos Santos also cited information which said the radio station's owner had received "bomb threats" even before last Monday's Cotabato blast that killed at least nine people.

However, it was unclear who made the threats. — DVM/HS/LBG, GMA News