CABANATUAN
CITY – An abandoned bag suspected to contain a bomb has triggered panic in a
street here, only to yield a harmless lunch box by bomb disposal operatives.
Police Superintendent Pedro Soliba,
police station commander, said the bag supposedly filled with bomb was found
along Cornejo Street, Barangay Sangitan West at around 5:30 pm Thursday.
Soliba said a certain Ricky Saurnido, helper
of MRF Tyres spotted the object and called the attention of the police.
The area was immediately cordoned off by
joint elements of the Cabanatuan City police and the provincial public safety
company (PPSC) which also sought the help of the 15th explosives and
ordnance detection team (EODT) based at the Fort Magsaysay Military Reservation
in Palayan City.
Soliba said that after a thorough
search by the EODT led by Army Sergeant Victorino F Alcantara, the bag was
declared negative for explosives.
Instead, what was recovered was a lunch
box wrapped with tape with attached wires, cellular phone battery and a clock,
all apparently mistaken for bomb-triggering devices. (Manny Galvez)
