Be careful with hidden “treasures.”
Eight people died in a horrifying blast on the Mindanao island province of Zamboanga del Norte on Wednesday evening after trying to open an old mortar they mistakenly believed was hiding gold inside.
Marcelo Antogan, 23 years old, a worker at an oil palm plantation, found a mortar shell in an open field and brought it to a bunkhouse he shared with other workers.
Police Senior Superintendent Raul Tacaca told The Philippine Star that the mortar exploded after Antogan tried to open the bomb with a nail and hammer because he thought it contained some kind of treasure.
“They pounded on it, thinking there may be gold inside,” Tacaca said.
Some believe the mortar was a vintage unexploded ordnance from World War II, but Tacaca said it more likely came from battles between the military and Muslim rebels.
However, Wilson Timbulaan, whose relatives died in the blast, does not think it’s a bomb but an explosive used to blow up rocks and boulders on the plantation.
Apart from Antogan, five other victims died inside the house including three minors. They are Ben Timbulaan, 6 years old; Loed Timbulaan, 8 years old; Robert Timbulaan, 9 years old; Lade Balamban, 18 years old; and Roel Balamban, 18 years old.
Two other men, 18-year-olds Jeofer Timbulaan and Junrey Sango, died on the way to the hospital. Seven others were injured by the explosion.
