ZAMBOANGA CITY, 1 Sept. 2004 — A homemade bomb exploded inside a thatched house, wounding 7 members of a fishing family in Basilan island in the southern Philippines, police said yesterday.
Police said one of the victim was tinkering with the explosive when it went off Monday in the island. It said the family is known to use explosives in illegal fishing.
Most of the victims suffered shrapnel wounds and were rushed to hospital.
Among those injured were children and women, police said, but it was not immediately known if they would be charged in court for illegally keeping explosives.
Police yesterday appealed to fishermen to refrain from using homemade explosives and officials warned they would jail those caught engage in illegal fishing.
Basilan is a favorite fishing ground in the south, but many villagers continue to use explosives, while others resort to cyanide fishing that destroy coral bed and kill small marine animals.
