A scavenger was killed while his companion was wounded about 1 a.m. on Tuesday when a vintage bomb they were trying to cut in half exploded in Barangay Upper Pakigne, Minglanilla town, about 17 km south of this city.
Police report identified the fatality as Michael Respecio, 48 who was already dead when brought to the Minglanilla District Hospital.
His companion Leonilo Adlawan was confined at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City.
The report said neighbors saw the two men used a grinder in trying to cut the metal casing of the bomb inside Respecio’s hut in Sitio Kamanggahan, Barangay Upper Pakigne, Minglanilla.
But the bomb exploded, killing Respecio on the spot and wounding Adlawan.
Chief Insp. Franco Oriol, chief of the Minglanilla police, said the two scavengers were looking for scraps when they stumbled upon the vintage bomb buried in a pile of garbage near Respecio’s shanty.
Oriol said the two thought that it contained gold and decided to cut the bomb into half.