Guevarra asks NBI to secure explosives in its custody

FILE: Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra during a press briefing in Malacañang. TOTO LOZANO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

MANILA – Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Wednesday ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to secure any explosives that it may have in its custody.

“I have no personal knowledge about the presence of any dangerous materials at the NBI compound. Just the same, I’ll instruct them to take all necessary precautions in their armory,” Guevarra said in a message to reporters.

This came following the explosion that ripped through Lebanon’s capital Beirut on Tuesday, killing at least 80 people and injuring 4,000 others.

Reports said a warehouse containing seized ammonium nitrate, a common fertilizer ingredient also used in making bombs, exploded when a nearby building at the Port of Beirut caught fire, causing widespread damage in the city.

On Aug. 13, 1999, seven agents died and 14 people were wounded in an explosion at the NBI headquarters in Manila, which was later ruled to be an accident.

The explosion tore off the roof of the bureau’s Special Investigation Division office.