Injured	Killed
4	3

Date: 31 May 2013
Source: GMA News

(Updated 9:15 p.m.) A powerful explosion hit a condominium building in the posh Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City Friday night, sending shoppers into panic and killing three people who were crushed by debris, police said.

According to a report from Nimfa Ravelo on DZBB, a large slab of concrete was blasted off the Serendra Two building and crashed on a passing delivery van that was carrying the three victims.

The blast, which sent bystanders in the posh shopping district into panic, occurred shortly past 8 p.m., Ravelo said in the report, quoting law enforcers in the area.

A private van was hit by the delivery van when it swerved following the accident, but no one was reported hurt in the vehicle, added Ravelo in a separate report on GMA News TV’s “State of the Nation.”

Initial information reaching the Southern Police District Station 6 at the BGC said the explosion was caused by an appliance in one of the condominium units.

A tweet from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), citing initial reports, said the explosion happened at Serendra 2 Unit 501.

Eyewitness photos posted on Twitter showed shattered glass and the heavy store sign of a wine shop across the building lying on the sidewalk. The walls of the affected condominium unit appeared to have been torn off from the impact of the blast.

Thick smoke was also seen coming out of the building shortly after the explosion.

Suzette Naval from Ayala Land, which owns Serendra Two, confirmed the explosion but said the company had yet to issue an official statement about what happened.

The Serendra compound is a first-class commercial and residential area at the BGC. — with reports from Marc Jayson Cayabyab and Danessa Rivera/KBK/YA, GMA News