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THERE
were no telltale signs that the explosion that rocked
Glorietta 2 in Makati two Fridays ago was the handiwork
of terrorists, an Israeli security expert now in Manila
said.
Retired
Israeli police chief David Nevo revealed his findings
after inspecting the blast site on Wednesday.
Because
of the absence of bomb parts at the blast site, Nevo
said that based on his 25-year experience handling
security concerns, he could say the explosion was not
caused by a bomb, and thus could not have been the
handiwork of terrorists.
Here in
Manila for a safety inspection of Ninoy Aquino
International Airport Terminal 3, Nevo went to Glorietta
2 on Wednesday to see for himself the cause of the
explosion and the extent of the damage.
“It’s
more likely that it was because of a gas explosion
because of the type of damage,” he said.
His
interest in the explosion, Nevo said, comes as a result
of his experience in living in Israel and his personal
expertise in antiterror activities.
Nevo
serves as a managing director at Coraliss, a private
Israeli security company providing security experience
anywhere in the world. He is a retired police chief
superintendent with over 25 years of experience in
security and antiterror management.
After a
bomb blast, he said “you usually can find traces of
explosives in samples, even small traces. Here there was
none.”
He said
the damage was “typical of a gas blast” especially with
the absence of bomb parts, specifically pointing to the
type of destruction of the floors, concrete ceiling and
the diesel tank.
“I think
there was a gas leak in the basement … when mixed with
oxygen and a spark, then it will blow up,” he said.
The
mixture of dangerous gases such as methane plus oxygen,
especially in an enclosed space, can cause an explosion
so devastating it could bring down an entire building,
he said.
“In a
closed volume, when dangerous gases mix together with
oxygen, then you have a spark, that can destroy a whole
building. It is also possible that a blast like this can
be more powerful than a bomb,” he said.
Hence,
the Glorietta 2 basement “all blasted up at the same
time” which, he added, was a very typical gas blast.
He said
he is revealing his own findings, unaware of the results
of the laboratory tests on the sample residue found at
the blast site.
His
observations tend to support the police theory that the
explosion was an accident.
Nevo
said he conferred with an Australian observer present at
the site and that they shared the same impression.
However,
he added that he did not share with the police his
observations, as he was there as an independent
observer.
“They
[other people] may think it is a terrorist attack, but I
don’t think so,” he said.
Police
have yet to recover the residue of any explosive or
components of a bomb from the site. |
