Bus blast kills 10 in Philippines, Islamist rebels suspected

At least 10 people have been killed and more than 30 wounded in what authorities described as a mortar bomb explosion on a bus in the southern Philippines.

The rural bus was passing near the main gate of Central Mindanao University in Maramag town, Bukidnon province, on Tuesday night when a powerful blast sent shrapnel and debris flying through the vehicle.

It was thought a mortar concealed in a bag went off in an overheard rack.

Investigators were searching for other possible devices in Maramag, about 860km south-east of Manila.

Islamist rebels and extortion gangs have been blamed for past bombings on buses in the country’s south.

The attacks have continued despite a state of high alert for military and police forces in the south because of sporadic bombings and other attacks by hardline Islamist insurgents opposed to a new autonomy deal between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the largest Muslim rebel group in the country.