COTABATO CITY — A powerful explosion rocked the Cotabato City Central Pilot Elementary School at 4:14 p.m. on Monday while the historic Bangsamoro parliamentary elections were underway, leaving one man slightly injured, police and a Philippine Red Cross worker said.
Colonel Jibin Bongcayao, city police director, said the blast occurred while some people were still voting inside polling precincts.
“Bomb experts were still determining the composition of the explosive,” he said.
READ: 2 explosions reported in Cotabato on polls eve
A Red Cross worker said a man was rushed to the hospital after the blast injured his left leg.
No one has claimed responsibility for the blast so far.
“It was a very strong explosion; it produced a deafening sound,” a bakery worker in front of the school said.
The blast came 10 hours after gunmen entered the voting center, shot several voters and traded bullets with law enforcers.
Four people were initially injured, including a police officer.
One of the wounded civilians later died in the hospital, according to Capt. Steffi Salanguit, spokesperson for police in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Voting was stopped following the blast as security forces cordoned off the school campus over fears of a possible second explosion.
The blast occurred at the back of the school stage. /mcm
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