ZAMBOANGA: Philippine police say eight people have been killed when a rusty mortar round they thought was an iron canister with gold inside exploded as they tried to pry it open with a hammer.
Police Senior Superintendent Raul Tacaca said today that other people were wounded by the powerful blast in a far-flung village of Sirawai town in Zamboanga del Norte province. The explosion happened yesterday inside a bunkhouse for workers of a plywood company.
Tacaca says one of the workers found the mortar round in a river bank and brought it to the bunkhouse, where other workers and their relatives stayed, and started to try to open it with a hammer.