BY RHENJIE MARIE CALANTAS
ILOILO City – Police Regional Office (PRO-6) director, Police Brigadier General Leo Francisco, suggested having a separate building for the Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) and Canine Unit following Sunday’s blast at the storage room of the Regional EOD and Canine Unit (RECU-6) inside the Iloilo City Police Office compound.
The explosion occurred after a silver nitrate formula was triggered by the unstable and inappropriate temperature inside the facility, initial investigation showed.
Francisco talked to the chief of the RECU-6 about his proposal.
“Kasi natatandaan ko rin noong nasa Manila Police District ako nagkaroon din ng combustion doon sa kanilang office, wala namang tao. Nakakapag-aalala ‘pag may mga dangerous chemicals na nasa storage namin kasi kadalasan ito ‘yong mga ebidensya,” explained Francisco.
According to Patrolwoman Shyrine Manuel, one of the injured during the explosion, she was cleaning the television inside the EOD office when the storage room exploded.
“Naglilinis po ako malapit sa TV sa loob ng office, harapan po ng storage room, pagsabog po nakatalikod ako. Tapos naramdaman ko na lang sa likod ko sobrang init, tapos tinignan ko nakita ko na lang ang sobrang itim na usok kaya dumapa na po ako tapos gumapang palabas. Hindi ko na rin po makita kasi sobrang dilim sa loob,” said Manuel.
Civilians Fernando Sabidalas and John Mark Garcia also sustained minor injuries.
Following the explosion, all ICPO personnel were alerted, while the Bureau of Fire Protection, Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO), and Iloilo City Emergency Responders (ICER) immediately responded to the scene./PN
