Maguindanao blast kills 2 kids

COTABATO CITY – An explosion believed to be from a fragmentation grenade has left two children dead in Sultan Mastura, Maguindanao on Saturday.

Maj. Bangon Mamako, chief of Sultan Mastura municipal police office, said the explosion occurred at 2:30 p.m. Saturday near their house in Sitio Santillano, Barangay Macaviso.

The victims identified as Daniel Amora, 7, and

Omar Amilol, 5, both residents of Barangay Macaviso, Sultan Mastura died of multiple shrapnel injuries at the Sanitarium Hospital in nearby Sultan Kudarat town hours after the blast.

“The children were last seen playing together at the back of a house made of light materials when the explosion occurred,” Mamako said in his report to Col. Arnold Santiago, the police director of Maguindanao.

Witnesses said the children could have been playing with a grenade they found somewhere but police said it is still being verified.

One of the two victims lost his right arm due to the explosion.

The victims were rushed to Sanitarium Hospital in nearby Sultan Kudarat town but died at about 6 p.m. on the same day.