by Manila Bulletin
The last day of the Bar examinations at the De La Salle University (DLSU) on Taft Avenue, Manila literally ended with a loud bang yesterday after a late afternoon explosion that wounded at least 44 people, mostly students, police said.
The Manila Police District (MPD) identified 18 of the wounded, all students, taken to the Ospital ng Maynila (OsMa) and the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) but also said the total number of victims may go beyond 44. The OsMa admitted victims Joanna Katrina Ledda, Arvin Francis Rosales, Philip Edwin Teelo, Gennilyn Ong, Cyril Ferrer, Kathleen Samba, Azenith Gonzalvo, Jamell Ann Marie, and Renald Sudla. PGH records, as of 8:30 p.m., identified victims taken to the hospital as Raissa Laurel, Diana Espiritu, Claudine Abrogena, Datu Mohammad Abdul, Generson Mercado, Milanes Rainier, Eunice Abdon, Diane Camita, and Donelle Quilates. As of press time at 11 p.m. yesterday, the MPD continued to monitor more reports of victims of the blast since they had been admitted in separate hospitals - OsMa, PGH, Manila Doctors Hospital, and Manila Medical Center. MPD officer-in-charge Chief Supt. Roberto Rongavilla said it is not yet clear if the explosion, which occurred between 5 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. shortly after the Bar exams ended, was caused by either an improvised bomb or pyrotechnics. But witnesses on the scene claimed that it was an explosion and not just a ruckus that happened in front of the DLSU. ''We were not sure at first if it is an explosive or a drum that we heard at first. You can't tell the difference then because of the boisterous students from different universities. But the cheer suddenly turned into screams of panic,'' said a Bar examinee who was across the street from DLSU when the explosion happened.
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