Eight hurt in grenade blast in Philippines

Manila, June 11: A powerful explosion ripped through a public market south of Manila, hurting eight people, and a separate blast damaged a commuter bus, police said today.

The two grenade attacks came amid tight army and police security as the Philippines celebrates its 108th independence day tomorrow.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blasts.

''The attacks appeared to be unrelated,'' said Vidal Querol, Manila's police chief, told reporters. ''We're still conducting a thorough investigation. We still don't have any suspect.'' In the first attack, eight people were wounded when a grenade placed in a bag went off at dawn in a packed public market in Lipa City, 80 km south of Manila.

''Based on our initial report, the blast was caused by a fragmentation grenade placed in a bag that was left near the live chicken section of the market,'' said a police spokesman.

The wounded were taken to two nearby hospitals for treatment of shrapnel wounds, the police added.

Police said it was the second explosion in the Batangas province since last week when a car bomb injured the governor and killed his two police escorts.

Communist New People's Army rebels were known to be active in the province, but a guerrilla spokesman had denied his group's role in the assassination attempt on the governor.

The second explosion damaged a commuter bus, which was used by local police as an outpost in the capital's suburban Quezon City.

A group of police officers had a narrow escape because they had just left the bus to have breakfast at a nearby restaurant.

Reuters