Bomb explodes inside passenger bus in Philippines, 9 killed

Nine people were killed Thursday in a bombing inside a passenger bus in the southern Philippines, the military and police said.

The bus was travelling along a national highway in Matalam town in North Cotabato province, 930 km south of Manila, when the blast occurred.

Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Cabangbang, a regional military spokesman, said nine passengers were also injured in the attack, believed to have been perpetrated by extortionists, according to Sify.

The vehicle had more than 50 passengers on board when a device detonated in an overhead compartment, police Chief Superintendent Gil Meneses said.

The force of the blast was so strong it decapitated two of the victims, he said. The wounded were taken to hospitals near Matalam township, in North Cotabato province.

Police officers and soldiers have interviewed survivors and combed through the twisted wreckage to reach the injured, Ch Supt Meneses said, Sky News reports.