Four persons, including two firemen and a three-year-old girl, were wounded in an explosion at a firecracker warehouse in this southern port city Friday.
Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang, Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) spokesman, said fire immediately broke out just after the first explosion around 3:30 p.m. at the firecracker warehouse of businessman Benjie Chiong along Nuñez Extension road, this city.
The two injured firemen identified as Raymond Gutierrez and Romeo Santos were among the firefighters of the Bureau of Fire Protection's Zamboanga City Fire District who rushed to the scene of the incident.
The other two wounded were identified as Aileen Ang-os, 32, and her three-year-old daughter Glyca Christine, who are staying near the firecracker warehouse.
Firecrackers continued to explode inside the warehouse while the firemen tried to contain the fire.
The firecracker explosions were followed by five big explosions - three around 4:12 p.m., one around 4:18 p.m. and two around 4:31 p.m. while the firemen continued the firefighting efforts.
The BFP firemen were later joined by the Filipino-Chinese Volunteer Brigade, and firemen from Wesmincom and Edwin Andrews Air Base (EAAB).
Aside from the firecracker warehouse, a warehouse of tires and other hardware stocks to include flamable materials and rubber tires was also burned as well as around 10 houses in the vicinity of the warehouses.
Officials of the Ciudad Medical Zamboanga, a private hospital near the firecracker warehouse, have evacuated their patients to other hospitals in this city for safety.
Some of the patients were taken to the EAAB hospital and other hospitals for temporarily shelter.
The firefighters have yet to totally contain the fire while the police investigators have yet to determine the cause of the incident as of press time (PNA)
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