20000418

Eight die in

Philippine grenade

explosion

MANILA: Eight people were killed and scores of others, including two police officers, were wounded on Sunday after a grenade exploded in front of a community centre here.

The explosion at the village information and monitoring centre in Baclaran district occurred minutes after eight armed men robbed three jewellery stores at a near by shopping mall, radio station DZBB reported, quoting police and witnesses.

A security guard was killed and another was wounded in a shootout following the robbery, it said.

Two police officers were wounded in the explosion while eight others, including a girl and a boy, were pronounced dead on arrival at the community hospital, reports said.

The district was crowded at the time of the incident, with hundreds of Catholics attending Palm Sunday mass at the nearby Baclaran cathedral.

It was not immediately clear whether the two incidents were connected.

Police said a manhunt for the suspects had been launched.

Last month, unidentified armed men lobbed a grenade at police in Baclaran ahead of a robbery at the same mall. One officer was critically wounded.ÑAFP