AUV vs motorcyle chase in Tondo ends with grenade blast

A grenade explosion that rocked a street in Tondo, Manila, Thursday morning may have been an ambush attempt that went awry. Police suspect that the grenade was  meant for the occupants of a sport utility vehicle (SUV) that was then being tailed by motorbike-riding assailants.

The blast that occurred at around 9 a.m. left a small crater at the foot of Del Pan Bridge, with a piece of shrapnel hitting another passing motorbike. The biker, 47-year-old Peter San Diego of Malabon City, was unhurt but the shrapnel damaged his gas tank.

Based on eyewitness accounts, police said two men riding on a motorcycle were seen driving alongside a maroon Mitsubishi Adventure Asian Utility Vehicle (AUV) on the southbound lane approaching Del Pan Bridge.

One of the men tried to smash the driver-side window of the AUV. As the AUV increased its speed, a small object fell to the ground next to it and exploded.

Both vehicles did not stop after the blast, which apparently damaged neither. The AUV was last seen “chasing” the motorbike going to Anda Circle, according to Senior Insp. John Guiagui of the Manila Police District’s Del Pan precinct.

Guiagui said the assailants on the bike may have been trying to stop the AUV in order to kill or rob its occupants.

Investigators later concluded that the explosion was that of an MK2 hand grenade.

With report by Annelle Tayao-Juego