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COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 31 Dec) — At least two persons were killed and 24 others injured, including a four-year old girl, when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off at around 1:59 p.m. outside the South Seas Mall along Magallanes St. on Monday, New Year’s Eve.
“This is not just another terroristic act but an act against humanity. I cannot fathom how such evil exists in this time of merry making of our fellow Cotabatenos,” Mayor Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi said in a statement posted on the city government’s Facebook page.
Police said initial investigation revealed that an unidentified man dropped a wrapped box seconds before the explosion.
Mayor Sayadi said it was “unimaginable” how some people can start the New Year “with an act of cruelty but no matter how you threaten us, the people of Cotabato City are resilient and we are stronger than how you think we are.”
“We will stand up against terrorism. We will fight against evil,” she vowed.
The mayor sent MindaNews a list of the dead and wounded in the New Year’s eve blast.
From her list, declared dead on arrival at the hospitals where they were brought were Jonathan Tasic Torribaino a resident of Upi in Maguindanao, and Mariam Ulama Cali. Torribaino was rushed to the Cotabato Regional Medical Center while Cali was rushed to the Cotabato Medical Specialist.
Rushed to four hospitals in the city – Cotabato Regional Medical Center, Maternity Hospital, Cotabato Medical Specialist and United Doctors Hospital were:
Investigations are still ongoing. (Ferdinandh B. Cabrera / MindaNews)
