By Ali Macabalang
COTABATO CITY – Two children were killed in an explosion believed to be from a fragmentation grenade in Sultan Mastura, Maguindanao over the weekend.
The victims, identified as Daniel Amora, 7, and Omar Amilol, 5, were both residents of Barangay Macaviso, Sultan Mastura. They succumbed to shrapnel wounds at the Sanitarium Hospital in adjacent Sultan Kudarat town hours after the explosion, according to sketchy reports.
The children were “last seen playing together at the back of a house made of light materials” when the blast occurred at around 2:30p.m. Saturday, said an initial report attributed to Sultan Masturan Police Chief Major Bangon Mamako.
Residents believed the two boys could have been playing with a grenade they found somewhere in the vicinity, but Mamako’s report said this angle was still being verified.
One of the children, according to witnesses, lost his right arm instantly due to the impact of the blast.
The victims were rushed to Sanitarium Hospital in nearby Sultan Kudarat town but expired four hours after the blast.