Bag thrown at bus snarls traffic on Edsa

File photo ARNOLD ALMACEN

MANILA, Philippines —Traffic on Edsa was at a standstill on Wednesday night after a backpack feared to contain explosives was thrown at a passenger bus while it was at the corner of FB Harrison and Edsa in Pasay City.

Senior Superintendent Rodolfo Llorca, Pasay police chief, said someone threw the bag from a footbridge on Edsa at 5:01 p.m.

The bag landed on the roof of a Bataan Lines bus traveling on the southbound lane of Edsa near FB Harrison, causing immediate panic among those onboard the vehicle.

Llorca said the driver and the conductor immediately ordered the passengers to disembark from the bus and alerted the Pasay police afterward.

“For the public’s safety, we decided to close both lanes of Edsa near FB Harrison while our bomb squads are checking if an IED (improvised explosive devise) is in the bag,” Llorca said.

Members of the Explosive Ordnance Division of the Pasay police, who brought with them bomb-sniffing dogs, managed to remove the bag from the roof of the bus.

“Our dog sat near the bag four times, a sign that an IED could be inside,” Llorca said.

The Pasay police were then still waiting for the EOD’s bomb baskets for the disposal of the suspected IED.

A radio report said that around 6 p.m., Police Officer 3 Randy Fortuna, a member of Pasay City Police’s Explosive Ordnance Division, went up the foot bridge just above the stalled bus, and conducted what was called “hook and line” where the bag was hooked from the bus’ roof and placed on the ground.

The bag was placed at the left side of the Bataan Bus.

Footage around the area showed that a bomb expert in full suit went near the bag, placed something, and then stepped back.

As of 10pm, the entire stretch of EDSA was passable. Due to the traffic gridlock, Joel Waje of MMDA-Metrobase said the tail end of traffic at the northbound lane reached Kamuning, while traffic at the other bound was from Buendia to Ortigas.

In a radio interview, Police Senior Superintendent Rodolfo Llorca, Pasay police chief, earlier said they that based on the X-ray result of the bag, a battery and a wire were seen and later recovered, but added that there weren’t any triggering device found.

“Sa bomba dapat kumpleto [In a bomb all parts should be present],” he said, and noted that the battery found was just like the usual AA battery.

The statement was made roughly four hours since the incident was reported to authorities.