MATALAM, North Cotabato (PNA) – A plantation worker was killed while three of his companions were critically injured in an accidental grenade explosion in remote Barangay Kidama here, police said Friday, Dec. 30.
Major Arniel Melocotones, town police chief, identified the fatality in the Thursday evening blast as Oto Biangan Lamalan, 20, who sustained shrapnel injuries in his body and was declared dead on arrival in a hospital.
Injured were Angara Mangadta, Esmael Landing, and Kentol Macaalay, all residents of Barangay Kidama.
“We are determining how they (victims) got hold of the fragmentation grenade,” Melocotones said.
Initial investigation bared that the victims were workers in a sugarcane plantation in Barangay Kidama.
Melocotones said Lamalan was toying with the explosive when its safety pin was accidentally removed and went off seconds later.