Date:13/12/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/12/13/stories/2004121304021301.htm

International

Philippine blast kills 11

MANILA: A powerful explosion rocked a public market packed with Christmas shoppers in the southern Philippines on Sunday, killing at least 11 persons and injuring nearly 30 others, police said. The mid-afternoon blast, apparently from a homemade bomb or a grenade concealed in a box, killed three persons instantly and destroyed at least two stalls in the market's meat section in General Santos city, police Superintendent, Willy Dangane, said. Eight other persons later died in hospitals, police investigator Capt. Maximo Sebastian said. ``The market was packed with people because there were Christmas flea market stalls there, and the explosion was powerful,'' Capt. Sebastian said. Police cordoned off the area, fearing more explosives may have been planted, radio reports said. Despite a crackdown by the military and police, Muslim militants have staged bomb attacks and maintain a presence in General Santos, a bustling port city 1,000 km south of Manila. — AP