Blasts Kills 8, Injures 126 At a Mall in Manila, The Philippines

October 19, 2007

An explosion rocked a popular mall in the main financial district of the Philippine Capital Manila. The explosion damaged the Glorietta Mall in the financial district of Makati and killed at least 8 people and injured at least 126 people, 98 of these needing hospitalization and the other 28 given first aid at the blast site for minor injuiries. The explosion happened past 1:30 pm just after employees of the different companies in Makati just finished their lunch break. Police authorities initially said that the cause of the explosion is from a leaking Liquified Petroleum Gas Tank, but after a few hours the Chief of the Philippine National Police Director General Avelino Razon Jr. ruled out the possibility of an LPG leak and saying that a bomb could be the cause of the explosion because investigators say that the blast site smelled of gunpowder and not of a leaking LPG tank. Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo meanwhile is now on her way to the blast site.

Currently, the explosion is still under investigation and the PNP bomb squad are inside the mall to check if there is any bomb debris or human