Investigators are currently determining the identity of the suspects through accounts from store personnel and other witnesses.

GENERAL SANTOS CITY — Police recovered an improvised explosive device (IED) that did not explode in an attempted attack on a department store in Koronadal City on Saturday night.

The explosive was found inside a luminous green backpack that was left at the baggage counter of Unitop General Merchandise-Koronadal branch along Osmeña Street in Barangay Zone 2, said Supt. Benjiel Kirby Bajo, Koronadal City police chief.

Bajo said the store’s baggage attendant and security guard initially reported hearing a low-key explosion emanating from the backpack at around 8:25 p.m.

Responding personnel from the city police station and the South Cotabato police’s explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) unit discovered the IED inside the backpack.

Bajo said it appeared that the suspects tried but failed to set the bomb off which was successfully detonated by the team around 9 p.m.

A report from the EOD unit said the explosive was mainly composed of black powder. There was an attached four-liter plastic mineral water bottle containing nails in various sizes.

It was connected to a 9-volt battery pack with red and black wires and a Samsung cellular phone as triggering device.

Investigators said the bomb’s composition was similar to the one that exploded beside the Christ the King Cathedral in Koronadal City last 29 April that injured two persons.

Another explosive was recovered about two hours after the blast in front of the convenience store 747, which is located a few meters away from the Koronadal’s old city hall compound.

Two suspects who were tagged as members of a notorious illegal drug and carnap group were arrested in late May in connection with the incident.

Bajo said investigators are currently determining the identity of the suspects through accounts from store personnel and other witnesses.

He said they are also checking footage of the closed-circuit television or security cameras at the store and nearby establishments.

“Our investigators are looking into all possible angles and pursuing some leads based on the recovered information and evidence,” Bajo said.

The failed bomb attack happened as the city concluded on Saturday night the hosting of the week-long 2nd “Pyesta Kolon Datal: Koronadal International Folklore Festival.”

The festivity was joined by more than 200 cultural performers from eight foreign and five national contingents. PNA