DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 20 April) — Personnel from the Explosives Ordnance Disposal Team are still investigating the cause of the 11:30 a.m. explosion on Black Saturday inside Camp Domingo Leonor, the headquarters of the Davao City Police Office here but initial reports released by the Police Regional Office 11 said explosives recovered from various operations and stored inside the stock room reportedly went off.
No casualty was reported.
The stock room is about a hundred meters away from the main gate.
The explosives, which were kept as court evidence, were placed under the custody of the EOD team.
Firetrucks from the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) 11 and Davao City Central 911 were dispatched to put out the fire.
Video by Antonio M. Colina IV
While investigation is ongoing, authorities temporarily closed a portion of San Pedro Street to vehicles — between Boulevard and CM Recto St. – where the DCPO compound is.
An empty shell of an undetermined weapon, which was suspected to have come from the explosion, pierced through the roof of the comfort room of a house located across the DCPO.
Joyce Namo, a fruit salad vendor, was shocked to hear a loud explosion, followed by a series of minor explosions and a thick smoke wafting over the DCPO compound. She said she panicked after seeing the police rushing out of the camp.
In a text message to reporters at 1:18 p.m., DCPO spokesperson Capt. Maria Teresita Gaspan said authorities are already clearing the site of the explosion.
At 2:09 p.m. police personnel again ran out of the camp. They were ordered to leave the compound immediately as the fire might have rekindled. Smoke was reportedly seen coming from the explosion site.
In a text message at 2:36 p.m. DCPO chief Col. Alexander Tagum told the reporters covering the incident to wait as the police have to “contain the immediate area.” (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)