Emergency services reported on Sunday that a major explosion at a pyrotechnics warehouse in the southern Philippines had killed five people, including a four-year-old child.
Due to fire investigator Luigi Chan, the explosion that occurred on Saturday afternoon at the Zamboanga City location caused significant damage to the ground, hurled debris into neighboring houses and buildings, and started a fire.
Chan reported that four employees of the warehouse as well as the four-year-old kid of one of the employees perished.
In addition to confirming the death toll, the city disaster office said that 38 additional people—eight of them critically—had been hurt in the incident.
Authorities said they are looking into what caused the explosion, which left a 20-meter (66-foot) crater, destroyed the walls of the depot, and rained debris on surrounding homes, a storage for grains and flour, and a soft drink plant.
“The most probable origin of the fire is the pyrotechnics stored at the warehouse,” Chan stated to AFP.
According to him, the explosion affected an area of almost 3,000 square meters (0.8 acres), and it required firemen more than two hours to contain the flames.
