ZAMBOANGA CITY—Three schoolchildren were injured in a grenade explosion in a west coast barangay in this city, the police reported on Wednesday.
Senior Insp. Karib Muharram, Police Station 9 chief, said the incident occurred at around 6:40 a.m. on Wednesday in Purok 7, Barangay Ayala, 16.5 kilometers west of City Hall.
Muharram identified the victims as Myka Padayao, 9; her younger brother, Tirdy, 6; and Jayson Nalzaro, 8, all students of Ayalan Elementary School.
Nalzaro’s father, Jaime, 42, told the police he brought his son to school aboard a bicycle when suddenly “something” exploded at the side of the road.
Jaime was unscathed while his son was wounded, as well as the two Padayao children, who were walking ahead of them.
Muharram said they are conducting a thorough probe over the incident in a bid to establish the identity of the suspects. The incident occurred a few days after Ayala Barangay Chairman Diosterides Librero received a threat through a letter from an unidentified sender.
The explosion site was about 15 meters away from the residence of the Librero family.
Librero lost both eyes and legs, although he survived in a grenade attack in November 2013, a few days before the scheduled special barangay elections in this city.
Meanwhile, Supt. Felixberto Martinez, Special Investigation Unit chief, said they deployed intelligence personnel to assist them in the gathering of evidence.