Four people were hurt when a bomb exploded inside the bus they were riding in Parang, Maguindanao Sunday, police said.
Brig. Gen. Arthur Cabalona, regional director of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), said the Rural Transit Bus was on a stopover for breakfast in Barangay Making of the town when the blast occurred at the backside of the bus.
Authorities found an improvised explosive device had been planted in the bus, on its way to Dipolog City from General Santos City.
The four injured passengers have been sent to hospitals and are still undergoing treatment as of posting.
Police are now checking CCTV surveillance footage from the area to see who among the passengers of the bus disappeared shortly before the explosion.
“There are CCTV cameras along the vicinity. We are now looking at all the footages to see those passengers and their faces who is or are missing…an investigator is also sent to the owner of the bus company to conduct questioning,” Cabalona said.
While police have yet to determine the motive behind the explosion, Cabalona said they were looking into “reports of extortion or attempts of extortion.”
The explosion occurred just a few meters away from the BARMM police regional headquarters.
The bus involved in the explosion was taking a new route which was only launched last March, plying from General Santos to Dipolog via Cotabato City.