MANILA — The death toll from anexplosion at an upscale shopping mallin Manila rose to 11 on Sunday asinvestigators cast doubt that theblast was caused by a bomb.Philipp ine national police chiefAvelino Razon said Friday's explosionat the Glorietta 2 shopping mall inthe heart of the capital's financialdistric t of Makati was set off by abomb, but three governmentinvest igators told The AssociatedPress this was a premature conclusion.T he investigators, who spoke oncondition of anonymity because theywere not authorized to talk to themedia, said no bomb parts have beenfound so far in a cargo storagebasement where the blast most likelyhappened. They added they wereconsidering all possibilities,in cluding an accidental blast.The police crime laboratory officesaid a sample of debris testedpositive for RDX, an ingredient of thehigh explosive C4, but that findingwas being re-evaluated because allother samples from the blast site havetested negative for explosives,accor ding to the three investigators.“It's too premature to make anyconclusion while the suspectedexplosi on site remains under water,”said Makati councillor Jejomar ErwinBinay, who has been monitoring theinvestigation at the scene of theblast — the most fatal to hit thecapital in recent years.Author ities began to siphon off waist-deep water in the mall's cargo storagebasement late Saturday, where theyfound the body of a woman partlycovered by debris. A badly woundedvictim died from massive blood loss ina hospital early Sunday, thecouncillor said, adding that most ofthe wounded have been discharged fromthree hospitals, but three othervictims remain in intensive care.Preside nt Gloria Macapagal Arroyocalled an emergency security meetingSaturday and plans a larger NationalSecurity Council gathering in a fewdays. Authorities also announced abounty for any information leading tosuspects, if the blast was an act ofsabotage.<>The three investigators looking atFriday's explosion said there was apossibility that fumes may have leakedfrom a huge diesel fuel container, ormethane gas from a septic tank, andignited in the tightly enclosedconcrete basement.The ruined basement still reeked ofdiesel fumes Sunday, they said.Rumours have spread fast by word ofmouth and cell phone text messagesblaming the mall blast on a variety ofsuspects — from military renegades, toMuslim militants and government forcesloyal to Ms. Arroyo, whoseadministrat ion has been linked to astring of corruption scandals.
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