CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — A senior police bomb disposal expert was killed when a second explosive device exploded while he was responding to a bombing of a transmission tower of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines in Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte on Friday dawn.

The victim was identified as Senior Master Sergeant Rosellier Hangka of the Lanao del Norte provincial explosive unit. Hangka and his team were at the height of the clearing operation when the second IED exploded.

He was rushed to a nearby hospital but was declared dead on arrival. The unidentified suspects exploded two IEDs, resulting in the toppling of Tower 14 of the NGCP.

NGCP personnel rushed to the area to repair the damage to the tower, which had also been attacked by unidentified armed men in the past.

In October 2022, armed men bombed the same tower. One of the bombers, identified as Subalit, was killed in the explosion. The attacks did not disrupt the flow of power supply in Northern Mindanao.

PNP Northern Mindanao director, Brig. Gen. Lawrence Coop, expressed his condolences to the family of the slain police officer. He said that the police will continue to investigate the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice.