Death Toll Climbs to 41 in Bus Bombings

Bombs planted aboard three Super Five Express buses in the southern Philippines have killed at least 41 people, officials said. More than 45 people were hospitalized, said Benjamin Fuentes, the mayor of Ozamis. Army Brig. Gen. Narciso Abaya said the three buses were owned by the same company, suggesting a link between the bombings. No group has claimed responsibility. But suspicion fell on Muslim separatists in Lanao del Norte province, who in January burned a Super Five bus. At least 36 of the dead in the attacks were in two buses and other vehicles aboard a ferry, where the bombs went off minutes before the ship was to dock in Ozamis, Fuentes said. Five others died when a third blast ripped through a bus about the same time in the nearby town of Rizal, Abaya said.