Blast kills 1, wounds 4 on Nueva Ecija highway

August 1, 2017 - 1:17 PM
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Damaged tricycles at the site of the explosion on the highway in Guimba, Nueva Ecija. (PNA)

GUIMBA, Nueva Ecija — A tricycle driver was killed and four other persons, two of them minors, wounded when what police believe was an improvised explosive device along the national highway in Barangay Pasong Intsik in Guimba town Monday afternoon.

Authorities identified the fatality as Marvin Barrientos, 40, a resident of Barangay Pacac.

His passenger, public school teacher Joe Laurence Mata, who was sitting behind him, was rushed to a hospital in Tarlac City with eye injuries.

The two minors, a Grade 10 boy and Grade 11 girl, suffered minor injuries. The other victim was a tricycle driver who rammed Barrientos’ vehicle.

Inspector Ronald Stockton, Guimba deputy chief of police, said the Northern Luzon Command’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit has yet to determine the device that exploded.

However, residents claimd an unidentified person had placed something at the place where the blast occurred, leading to speculation it might have bene intended for  police team that investigated a warehouse burned by alleged communist rebels in Nampicuan town Sunday.