Hand tractor hits unexploded grenade, shattered

COTABATO CITY --- A motorized hand tractor of a Moro farmer was destroyed when its plow hit an unexploded 40-millimeter grenade projectile in Barangay Sapalan in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte on Thursday afternoon.

Lt. Col. Esmael Madin, Datu Odin Sinsuat municipal police chief, said on Friday that farmer Sandot Abad Peling survived the blast unscathed.

The explosion triggered panic among residents of Barangay Sapalan.

Isolated areas in Barangay Sapalan were scenes of clashes in past years between soldiers and Moro secessionist rebels.

Responding police and Army bomb experts said there is a possibility that one from either side had launched a 40 MM grenade projectile that did not explode when it landed on soft ground and accidentally went off when it was hit by the plow of Peling’s hand tractor. (John Felix Unson)