What are the chances you would be a victim of a bomb blast? I’m pretty sure the 89 persons wounded by the blast or the families of the eight who died had that farthest from their minds as they spent the afternoon going about their ways.
Always be prepared because anything can happen. Protection comes first before investing.
I can’t help but thank God I didn’t have a meeting in that area today, nor opted to buy my tickets from Philippine Airlines whose new sales office is now near the area. It’s unfortunate and very shocking to see so many people wounded and hurt.
MLQ3 has a round up of bloggers who witnessed the bombing. Here are some photos from AFP.
Rescuers sift through the wreckage and debris. The police believes some people are still trapped inside.
October 24th, 2007 at 12:09 am
Hi Omski,
Methane (with chemical formula CH4, is also known as the natural gas - sorry to be so technical) emissions from septic tank could have been a possible cause of methane explosion if there is indeed considerable emissions/ leaks of methane that accumulated at the basement.
Diesel will not explode as it is a heavy hydrocarbon.
Nina
October 23rd, 2007 at 10:18 am
nina,
i think the mall septic tank is in that area and that can cause methane build up over the years…plus some more mixture of diesel gases/vapor as they say for the mall generators…we don’t know if these mixtures is more explosive than methane alone…hopefully more international experts help out as I don’t think our local experts can handle blasts of this magnitude..they don’t have the experience yet.
the usual methane explosions are in mines, but there are always exceptions
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE5D6113AF933A25750C0A966958260
http://english.pravda.ru/news/hotspots/19-06-2007/93633-Tokyo_explosion-0
http://www.batcon.org/batsmag/v12n1-5.html
October 22nd, 2007 at 11:24 pm
Hmmm….I haven’t updated myself on the investigation but methane explosion is common in a landfill because of the trap gas (methane) if the landfill is not properly designed. But methane in the landfill comes from the decomposition of the wastes. I find it unlikely to have accumulation of methane at glorietta basement unless you have some organic matters that are decomposing or you have some methane deposits beneath the mall.
October 22nd, 2007 at 5:22 pm
Some research…
Methane Gas Explosions. The accumulation of methane gas in structures both within and beyond the landfill (e. g., basements, crawl spaces, utility ducts) has resulted in explosions and fires which have caused personal injury and death. Accumulation is often the result of underground gas migration. EPA regulations require large landfills to monitor and control methane emissions.
How Can Explosion Risks and Odors be Reduced?
Passive vents and active gas pumping systems can be used to control the migration of methane gas. Passive systems use natural pressure gradients and trenches or pipes to vent landfill gas to the atmosphere. These vents can be equipped with flares to burn off gas (Note: this control can also be used to destroy odorous gases). If there is a high risk of methane accumulating in nearby structures, active gas collection systems are used to literally pump gas out of the landfill and recover it. A growing trend at landfills across the country is to use the recovered methane gas as an energy source. Collecting methane gas for energy use greatly reduces the risk of explosions, provides financial benefits for the community, and conserves other energy resources.
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HAC/landfill/html/appe.html
What i want to know if methane can cause such a large blast like that in Glorietta…
Are there traces of explosive materials in the victims bodies?
Have our police interviewed the people that are in the basement prior to the blast?
Can our mining companies come forward and help with their mining apparatus that detects gas or explosive materials in the Glorieta basement?
They should have found any trace of bomb material by now if it is really a bomb…
October 22nd, 2007 at 1:46 pm
If this is an accident and not a bomb, Ayala Land would have to pay huge amount of money to all the victims as it is their responsibility to make all their establishment safe…
looks like the explosion emanated from the basement stock room / utility area . all going in there are known tenant employees or suppliers. ..
a terrorist attacker would not go in there to plant a bomb as they would be easier to trace because only a few people go there in a given time and usually those basement bays have in and out log books…
Hopefully authorities would find out the real cause of the explosion the soonest so all finger pointing will stop…
We just had dinner in Luk Yuen a week before…;-