COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 17 July) – A man is now in critical condition at a government hospital here after he was hit by a stray bullet at the height of Eid’l Fitr celebration, which marks the end of the month-long Ramadhan, Thursday night, police said.
A 25-year-old man from Talitay, Maguindanao was also rushed to the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center also due to a stray bullet. There were no other details available except that the bullet of a caliber .45 pistol hit the man on the side of his face.
In the Cotabato City incident, Senior Supt. Rex Anongos, city police director, said Rommel Abdul Rashad, 36, of Barangay Rosary Heights Mother, was resting in his house at 8:40 p.m. when a bullet landed on the roof of his house and pierced his head.
A caliber .45 bullet also hit Rashad.
The incident occurred despite repeated appeals from the police not to fire guns in welcoming Eid’l Fitr. “It was a very sad incident,” Anongos said.
Rashad was transported to Davao City noon today for further medical treatment due to his serious wounds.
“He just arrived home from a nearby mosque and seated in the veranda when the bullet landed on his head,” Rashad’s sister-in-law, Marilou.
“I was dismayed that there are people who fired guns although they knew it was illegal,” she added.
Bursts of gunfire reverberated all over Cotabato City and Maguindanao the moment the crescent moon was sighted that signalled the end of the fasting month.
Anongos admitted most of the gunfire emanated from the towns surrounding Cotabato City.