By Teofilo Garcia, Jr. | Philippine News Agency
A 12-year-old boy was killed while a teenager was wounded in an explosion Monday in a coastal barangay, this city.
Lieutenant Mary Agnes Miro, Zamboanga City Police Office (ZCPO) information officer, said the initial report showed the incident happened shortly after 2 p.m. Monday in Barangay Rio Hondo.
Miro said the 12-year-old boy, a certain Erickson, died on the spot, while his teenage companion, a certain Jovan, was wounded and rushed to the hospital. Another companion, also a child, was unscathed.
Nuraina Lawisan, barangay treasurer of Rio Hondo, told reporters they rushed to the shore after they heard a loud explosion and saw the 12-year-old boy lying dead while Jovan was wounded.
“We were surprised to hear such a loud explosion,” Lawisan said.
Lawisan said that based on the information they gathered from the third victim who was unscathed, the children found a “tube” while they were swimming beside the Naval Station-Rio Hondo.
She said the object exploded after one of the three children tossed it to the concrete seawall instantly killing Erickson.
“They went here to swim,” Jovan’s father, who rushed to the explosion site, told reporters.
He said the three children are all residents of Martha Drive in the nearby barangay of Sta. Catalina.
Meanwhile, Miro said members of the explosive ordnance demolition (EOD) have yet to determine the type of explosive the children found on the shore of Rio Hondo.
According to authorities, Barangay Rio Hondo was among the scene of heavy gun battles during the 21-day 2013 Zamboanga siege and it is possible that some unexploded ordnance was not recovered during the two-month clearing operation conducted by the police and military EOD teams. (PNA) -rir
