Brig. Gen Bowenn Joey Masauding, PNP-9 director, visits wounded troops who were injured during the “failed controlled explosion on Monday, 08 July 2024, in Brgy. Cabatangan, Zamboanga City. Photo from Zamboanga City Police Office Facebook page
ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews / 09 July) – A “controlled” detonation of unexploded fireworks went awry Monday afternoon, wounding 30 individuals, including 19 government security and safety personnel, a ranking local official said Tuesday.
Dr. Elmeir Jade Apolinario, head of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO), said that aside from personnel of different government security agencies, the failed “controlled explosion” also injured 11 civilians.
Apolinario told MindaNews over the phone that the investigation on the incident is still going on.
The controlled explosion activity was not coordinated with the city government, he said, adding that the damages are still being assessed.
The fireworks being disposed were taken from the factory of Next Step Fireworks Shoppe, which exploded last June 29 and left five people dead and 30 others injured. Following the incident, the city government suspended the business permit of Next Step Fireworks, which is owned by Jonathan “Jojie” Chua.
A few days ago, Col. Kimberly Molitas, Zamboanga City police director, ordered the boxes of unexploded pyrotechnics from the June 29 blast to be drenched with water and brought to Muti, a barangay in the east coast, for proper disposal.
This was apparently not followed with Monday’s detonation activity.
Engr. Allan Rosales, Zamboanga City director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, said the agency’s earthquake monitoring system recorded at 5:29 p.m. yesterday the impact of the explosion in Barangay Cabatangan at Intensity 2 (slightly felt) within a 2.42 kilometer radius.
“Yesterday’s incident had a stronger impact (than the June 29 explosion),” Labayog said.
In a CDRRMO statement, of the 19 injured from the ranks of the government, six are from the Philippine National Police’s Regional Explosives and Canine Unit – 9, five each from the Philippine Marine Corps and Bureau of Fire Protection, and three from the Philippine Coast Guard.
Two of the victims were in critical condition as of 7:56 p.m. Monday, it stated.
City Mayor John Dalipe, who is in Cebu City with the city’s delegates to the 2024 Palarong Pambansa, called for a thorough investigation on the incident.
He directed the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) to extend assistance to those injured as well as to the families whose properties were damaged by the explosion.
Socorro Rojas, CSWDO head, said in a separate interview that they are currently extending “Pantawid Tulong,” or family food packs from the Department of Social Welfare and Development, to the victims.
They are also assessing the extent of damages to houses for financial assistance, she added.
Netizen Lito Casimiro, a retired police officer and former Zamboanga City police director, commented on social media that “we do not dispose firecrackers or pyrotechnics recovered by exploding it. We place them in a hole and use water then bury them.” (Frencie L. Carreon / MindaNews)
