Manila: An explosion that rattled a university in Manila where admission tests for aspiring lawyers were being conducted on Sunday injured at least eight people, most of them law students.
Radio reports said thousands of students were busy writing the final paper of their multi-stage bar admission examinations at the Dela Salle University in Taft Avenue in Manila when the silence was shattered by a "pillbox", an improvised explosive often used by rioters.
Witnesses said a group of unidentified people lobbed the explosive device into a MacDonald’s restaurant on the college premises as a crowd of students gathered for their exams.
Six of those injured were female students of San Beda College while the rest were from various Metro Manila colleges and universities.
The casualties were rushed to the Ospital ng Maynila (Manila Hospital) and the nearby Manila Adventist Hospital.
A report by radio station dzBB quoted police officer Clarmen Dimatulac of the Manila Police District as saying that the blast had sent a wave of panic through the area and that several injured people could be seen lying on the ground immediately after the explosion.
Police explosive and ordnance disposal personnel were quickly deployed at the blast site.
The atmosphere during bar examinations is generally festive as other law students and lawyers cheer on their colleagues in so-called "bar ops".
