Four dead in Phillipines blast

At least four people were killed and dozens of others injured when a powerful explosion rocked a crowded shopping centre in the capital of the Philippines today.

The blast caused extensive damage throughout the Glorietta 2 shopping complex in Makati, Manila’s financial district, toppling roofs, destroying walls, and sending debris crashing on to cars outside.

At least four people were killed and as many as 54 others were injured, police said.

Witnesses told radio stations they saw bloodied people being helped out and carried away in ambulances. An Associated Press photographer saw two bodies covered with blankets.

Metropolitan Manila police chief Geary Barias said an initial report suggested the blast was caused by a cooking gas tank in a mall restaurant. But hours later, he clarified that the explosion was not inside the restaurant but at the entrance to the mall and said police were investigating the cause.

“It’s too early to say if it’s terrorism-related,” Mr Barias said.

Al-Qaida-linked militants, who have waged a long and bloody bombing campaign in the southern Philippines, have targeted Manila before.

In 2004, Abu Sayyaf militants, notorious for kidnappings and beheadings, blew up a passenger ferry in Manila Bay, killing 116 people in the country’s worst terrorist attack.

Shoppers scampered toward the exits when the blast shook the mall.

“One man who was in front of me was already dead. There was a child but we don’t know where the child is now,” said witness Dennis Inigo, who was shopping at the time of the explosion.

“The man’s wife was with me a while ago, and her leg was shattered. Many people were falling on top of each other,” he said. “It was loud, and then it became dusty.”