ROXAS CITY, Capiz, Philippines — A 9-year-old girl and a man suspected of carrying a hand grenade died while 12 others, mostly students, were wounded in an explosion near the gate of the Lantangan Elementary School on Monday noon (Jan. 12), in Barangay (village) Lantangan, Pontevedra, Capiz, some 35 kilometers from here.

Insp. William Limjuco, Pontevedra police chef, identified the girl as Rena Rose de Mayo, a grade 2 pupil who died while being treated in the nearby Bailan District Hospital (BDH).

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A man whose identity has not been determined and who was believed to have carried the hand grenade to the site of the explosion, died on the spot.

Eleven other victims were being treated at the BDH while another one was brought to a hospital in Roxas City.

The wounded being treated at the BDH were identified as Edmar Borlado, Ronel de Mayo, Antonio Monte Agudo, John ReyDegala, Orly de Guzman, Antelie Borlado, Jimboy Alimas, John Mark Degala, Reymar John Demutsa, Leonard Detaro, and Daniel de Mayo.

Initial police investigation showed that an unidentified man carrying a bag disembarked from a Ceres bus and walked toward the elementary school at 12:10 p.m. A few seconds later, the bag exploded, hitting the elementary students who were eating their lunch near the gate of the school beside the barangay hall of Lantangan.

Bystanders and barangay officials immediately brought the victims to the hospital. Senior Supt. Ulysses Caton, the Capiz police director, immediately sent cops to the area and ordered a thorough investigation of the explosion. The school is located along the national highway and is about 10 kilometers away from the town’s proper.

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