(CNN Philippines) — Police authorities in Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat went on heightened alert following the discovery of an improvised explosive device (IED) aboard a bus on Thursday morning (April 9).
Senior. Supt. Rex Dela Rosa, provincial police office chief, said on Friday (April 10) that checkpoints have been set up since the incident.
Dela Rosa, however, noted that the recovered IED — which was found inside a unit of the Yellow Bus Line (YBL) — couldn’t be set off because it had no triggering device.
He added that the incomplete IED was made up of two 60mm mortar ammunition, a warhead of a rocket-propelled granade (RPG), and a detonating cord.
It was wrapped with packaging tape and cellophane, and was placed in the rear part of the bus, which was from Koronadal City en route to Tacurong.
The bus, with the body number 2908, had 15 passengers on board when the IED was discovered by the army’s bomb squad.
According to a Philippines News Agency (PNA) report, two of three suspected bombers had been arrested. They reportedly boarded the bus at the Koronadal bus terminal.
Meanwhile, Bernardo Bolanio, YBL Assistant Operations Manager, said that security measures have been beefed up since the incident.
CNN Philippines’ string correspondent Erwin Cabilbigan contributed to this report.
