Death toll in blast rises to 11; probers doubt bomb theory

The death toll from the Glorietta 2 mall explosion in Makati rose to 11 on Sunday as investigators cast doubts on earlier statements that the blast was caused by a bomb. Director General Avelino Razon, National Police chief, said Friday's explosion was set off by a bomb, but investigators said it was a premature conclusion. Three groups of investigators said they are not discounting the possibility that a massive gas leak might have triggered the powerful explosion. The investigators, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media, said no bomb parts have been found so far in a cargo storage basement where the blast most likely happened. They added they were considering all possibilities, including an accidental blast. Accidental blast One of the officers claimed that there are indications that the explosion was similar to the April 22, 1992, Guadalajara, Mexico, blasts. The Guadalajara deadly blasts were blamed on gasoline and gas leakage from the city’s underground sewer lines. Aside from US Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, a group of anti-terrorism experts from the Australia Federal Police have visited the Makati blast site to help in the investigation, providing technical skills in forensic science investigations. The police crime laboratory office said a sample of debris tested positive for RDX, an ingredient of the high explosive C4, but that finding was being re-evaluated because all other samples from the blast site have tested negative for explosives, according to the three investigators. "It's too premature to make any conclusion while the suspected explosion site remains under water," said Makati Councilor Jejomar Erwin Binay, who has been monitoring the investigation at the scene of the blast — the most deadly to hit the capital in recent years. Late Saturday, authorities began to siphon off waist-deep water in the mall's cargo storage basement, where they found the body of a woman partly covered by debris. A badly wounded victim died from massive blood loss in a hospital early Sunday, Binay said. Most of the wounded have been discharged from three hospitals, but three other victims remain in intensive care, Binay said. Once the blast site has been drained, it will be easier to determine whether there is any evidence of sabotage, such as bomb shrapnel. The investigators said they were trying to secure footage from security cameras near the area from the mall's owners. Bombing? President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo called an emergency security meeting Saturday and planned a larger National Security Council gathering in a few days. Authorities also announced a reward for any information leading to the arrest of suspects if the blast was an act of sabotage. Mrs Arroyo's spokesman, Ignacio Bunye, called the blast a "bombing" in a statement, adding that the president has directed the Department of Foreign Affairs to assure foreign governments that Philippine authorities were committed "to find and arrest the perpetrators of this senseless, barbaric attack." The three investigators looking at Friday's explosion said there was a possibility that fumes may have leaked from a huge diesel fuel container, or methane gas from a septic tank, and ignited in the tightly enclosed concrete basement. The ruined basement still reeked of diesel fumes Sunday, they said. Rumors have spread by word of mouth and cell phone text messages blaming the blast on a variety of people — including military renegades, Muslim militants and government forces loyal to Mrs Arroyo, whose administration has been linked to a string of corruption scandals. Compounding public alarm, smoke suddenly billowed from a seafood restaurant in the nearby Glorietta 4 mall in an unrelated incident Sunday, prompting employees and shoppers to rush out of the building, which was shut by security guards as fire trucks arrived. The smoke, caused by faulty electrical wiring, did not ignite any fire, police said. - GMANews.TV, with a report from AP