Victims of the Hilongos explosion are being treated in a nearby hospital.
TACLOBAN CITY—Improvised explosive devices (IED) were used in the bombing of the town plaza in Hilongos, Leyte past 9 p.m. on Wednesday. Chief Insp. Alberto Renomeron, Hilongos police chief, said in a phone interview, said two IEDs exploded at the Rizal Plaza where people were watching a boxing event in celebration of Hilongos’ annual fiesta.
A third IED was planted outside the church but didn’t explode, reports said. Renomeron said the victims were brought to Hilongos District Hospital and Leyte Baptist Hospital.
According to the Philippine Red Cross-Hilongos chapter administrator Everlisa Alotaya, the number of injured victims reached 33.
According to Chief Supt. Elmer Cruz Beltejar, police director for Eastern Visayas, five of those wounded were in critical condition.
Renemeron said the perpetrators had yet to be identified but his men as well as Explosive and Ordnance Division of the police and the Scene of the Crime Operatives were already in the crime scene. Checkpoints were also being conducted going to and out of Hilongos in a bid to arrest the perpetrators.