Members of the Sultan Kudarat Provincial Mobile Force Company conduct checkpoint along a road in Barangay Pimbalayan, Lambayong, Sultan Kudarat following the discovery of two IEDs in a chapel nearby on Monday, April 22, 2019. (Photo courtesy of Lambayong MPS)
KIDAPAWAN CITY - Army and police bomb experts found two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) inside and outside a Catholic chapel in Lambayong, Sultan Kudarat on Monday morning.
“One of the bombs went off while military and police bomb disposal team members were preparing to disarm the IEDs at past 10 a.m.,” Capt. Herman Luna, town police chief, told reporters on Tuesday.
Luna said civilians found one of the IED planted near the entrance of the chapel in Barangay Pimbalayan of Lambayong.
Responding police and Army bomb experts were preparing to disrupt the IED when it went off. Police believed it was triggered by a mobile phone.
“Fortunately, nobody was hurt in the incident,” Luna said, adding that the chapel’s ceiling, made of corrugated metal sheets, bore holes when hit by shrapnel.
He said further investigation led to the discovery of another IED at the side of the still unfinished chapel that was safely deactivated.
No one has claimed responsibility for bombing attempt.
Church services were held in the chapel during the Lenten celebration from Maundy Thursday to Easter Sunday. (PNA)
