Philippines: Blast outside shopping mall leaves 2 dead
Cotabato City, Dec 31 (IBNS): An explosion ripped through rows of stalls selling firecrackers and fireworks in front of the SouthSeas Mall in the southern Philippines which left at least 2 people dead on Monday, media reports said.
Cotabato City Police spokesman Christopher Lee told CNN there was a suspected "IED explosion" outside the South Seas Mall in Cotabato City on the island of Mindanao.
A spokeswoman for the Office of Civil Defense in General Santos City, Minda Morante, told the US news channel that two people were killed in the blast, with 23 injured, all of whom have been sent to local hospitals.
Supt. Romeo Galgo Jr., Cotabato City deputy police chief told the Inquirer that they are investigating the cause of the explosion.
"We are still investigating, it could be due to the firecracker or it was a fragmentation grenade, we will still conduct a post blast investigation," Supt. Romeo Galgo Jr said.
The blast occurred at a time when several shoppers were reportedly present at the spot.
The identities of those who died in the incident are still not known.
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