airport bomb kills 19 in philippines(update)

MANILA, Philippines (March 4) - A powerful bomb hidden in a backpack exploded Tuesday at an airport in the southern Philippines, killing at least 19 people and wounding more than 150, authorities said. The government called it a ''brazen act of terrorism.''

With many of the injured in serious condition, officials feared the death toll could rise.

No one claimed responsibility for the blast at Davao airport on Mindanao island. But the military has blamed Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels for a string of attacks, including a car-bombing at nearby Cotabato airport last month that killed one man.

The dead included a boy, a girl, 10 men - including one American - and seven women, officials said.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who invited U.S. troops to help train Filipino soldiers in counterterrorism later this year, said ''several men'' were detained in connection with the blast. She said she ordered police and the military ''to hunt down the bombers and their accomplices.''

Davao civil defense spokeswoman Susan Madrid said the airport explosion occurred at 5:20 p.m. (1020 GMT) as scores of people waited for a plane to arrive.

''It was a very, very loud explosion,'' Terry Labado, an airport official said. ''I saw bodies flying.''

''We rushed out of the building to see where the explosion happened,'' she said. ''We saw many dead.''

An airport security official, who did not want to be identified, said the bomb rocked the front of the terminal building, smashing windows and causing considerable damage.

''It happened ... a few minutes after a Cebu Pacific flight arrived and people packed the waiting area. There were many people killed. I saw six persons killed on the spot,'' the official said.

Madrid said 19 people were killed and more than 150 were injured. One hospital alone reported 91 casualties.

TV footage showed the waiting stand in front of the terminal building wrecked by the blast, and pieces of metal strewn on the road. The injured included young children.

Two Americans were among the wounded. They were identified as Barbara Stevens, 33, and her 9-month-old son Nathan. They were brought to Davao Doctors Hospital, hospital staff said.

Another American, identified by Davao Medical Center as William Hyde, died of his injuries on the operating table, said Dr. Manuel Tan. The U.S. Embassy confirmed the death of an American but refused to disclose other details.

Stevens said in a telephone interview from the hospital that her family, Southern Baptist missionaries who have been living in the Philippines for five years, had just arrived from Manila when the bomb went off. She said Hyde was waiting to pick them up.

''I just heard it explode to my side,'' she said. ''I was carrying my infant son so I grabbed my daughter and picked her up and ran away. I was afraid there could be more bombs.''

She said her son was hit by shrapnel in the liver. Her daughter Sarah was injured but releas. Her husband escaped injuries.

The city's Mayor Rodrigo Duterte ordered all pharmacies and drug stores to remain open to supply medicine to the victims.

National Police Deputy Chief Edgar Aglipay, who was in Davao at the time of the blast, told a Manila radio station that the explosion was caused by a bomb hidden inside a backpack.

Arroyo called an emergency meeting of the Cabinet oversight committee on internal security later Tuesday. She issued a statement calling the bombing ''a brazen act of terrorism which shall not go unpunished.''

In a separate incident Tuesday, an explosion about 18 miles north of Davao injured three people, said military spokesman Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero. He suspected the MILF guerrillas in the attack.

The rebels have been fighting for a separate Muslim homeland in the impoverished southern Philippines for three decades. Despite a shaky 1997 cease-fire, fighting has occasionally flared up. Last month, government forces captured a major MILF stronghold on Mindanao, prompting several rebel attacks and village raids that have killed dozens of people in the past two weeks.

Arroyo has approved a peace agreement with the MILF, but the rebels said they will not negotiate unless government troops withdraw from areas they captured.

Last year, some 1,200 American troops were in the Philippines to ''train, advise and assist'' Filipino forces battling another violent Muslim group, the Abu Sayyaf, on the neighboring island of Basilan.

Last month, U.S. defense officials announced they had an agreement to deploy more than 1,000 U.S. troops in an effort to rout Abu Sayyaf forces from the island of Jolo. The offensive was put on hold after Pentagon officials described the deployment as ''joint operations'' that would have drawn Americans into battle.

Manila repeatedly denied there would be a U.S. combat role, saying Americans were coming for a training exercise.

Prestonwood Missionary killed in the Philippines

Bill and Lyn Hyde

Prestonwood Press Release March 4, 2003

IMB press release March 4, 2003

Bill Hyde: Missionary Was Ready to Give His Life for Christ “I hope you’re having time to reflect on the things God said to you when you were here. We thoroughly enjoyed having you here and know God will use you in many ways as you continue to be open to Him … and serve fellow believers (in the Philippines) that have so little and need so much… Fifty percent of churches in Mindanao do not have pastors, so having a place for their training is vital.” –An excerpt from a letter from Bill Hyde to Jason Vail, a member of Prestonwood

On Tuesday, March 4, 2003, Bill Hyde was killed in a bombing in Davao City, Philippines. He is survived by his wife, Lyn, and their two sons, Steven and Timothy.

Bill and his wife, Lyn, worked extensively with the Southern Philippines Baptist Missionary Seminary. Recently, Prestonwood Baptist Church sent a team of missionaries to Davao City to help repair the missionary and expand it for further use.

In addition to the seminary, Bill visited remote regions on the island of Mindanao each week, planting churches and sharing the gospel with people who were primarily Muslim and spoke no English. Bill was fluent in two tribal languages, and was known for possibly speaking up to seven languages.

Jason Vail, a member of Prestonwood, worked closely with Bill on a recent mission trip to the Philippines.

“To me, Bill is an example of what everybody should do,” Jason said. “He gave everything to the people of the Philippines and never thought about himself. He just followed God.”

Bill experienced a tragic death when picking up neighbors from the airport – fellow missionaries, Mark and Barbara Stevens, and their children. Bill offered to pick up their luggage while they went to the car. Upon retrieving their luggage, a backpack carrying a bomb exploded. Bill died shortly after in the hospital after surgery for severe head and leg injuries.

“If he had not sent them to the car, a nine-month-old boy, a five-year-old girl and their mother would be dead,” Jason said. “He basically saved their lives. And if he had known in advance, I know he would have gladly given up himself for them anyway. He was that kind of man.”

Dewey Wilson, also a member of Prestonwood, visited the Philippines in October and spent 2 1/2 days with Bill and Lyn Hyde. After speaking at length with Bill on ministry and serving Christ, Dewey returned to the United States, where he and his wife, Lynne, surrendered to full-time ministry.

"I asked him how he was called into the ministry and he shared his testimony," Dewey said. "He said his dream had been to live in Alaska, and he even had an opportunity to work there. But while he was there, he felt God saying, ‘Bill, you will never live here.’ After that, God began moving Bill and Lyn into full-time missions. Bill and Lyn are among the most humble servants I know. They didn’t have much, but they were content. And they were the ones in the trenches for Christ, serving literally on the front lines.”

“Bill was not only a big man physically, standing over 6 feet tall, but he was a big man spiritually,” Dewey added. “People throughout the island loved him. We all did. I was only with him for 2 1/2 days, but he changed my life. God used Bill to put His exclamation point on my own call into ministry.”

Recently, Bill sent an email to Jason Vail, encouraging him in his walk with Christ. He wrote: “May the Lord continue to grow you into Christ-likeness, and may He ignite a flame in the people your life touches.”

Bill Hyde left a legacy of faith and service for his family and everyone who knew him. Bill’s death, although tragic, ignited a flame in all the lives he touched.

http://www.prestonwood.org/sites/document.asp?did=2937

I didn't know anything about this until I was watching the news at 5.
It was the lead story on KY3 in Springfield.

***

Barbara Stevens, a missionary from Willard, was slightly injured. Shrapnel hit her son Nathan, 10 months, in the liver. Stevens, a church and home outreach worker, said her daughter Sarah also is injured but was released after treatment. Her husband, Mark Stevens, who also works for the mission board, escaped injury.

Barbara Stevens said in a telephone interview from the hospital that her family had just arrived from Manila when the bomb went off.

“I just heard it explode to my side,'' she said. “I was carrying my infant son so I grabbed my daughter and picked her up and ran away. I was afraid there could be more bombs.''

Word of what happened to the Stevens family spread quickly in Willard, especially at First Baptist Church, where Barbara Stevens grew up and is well remembered.

"She has a fantastic sense of humor,” said the Rev. Tim Warren. “She is tremendous, one of the most enjoyable ladies you'll visit with."

Warren has known the Stevens family for years and followed their missionary career in the Phillipines. At first, no one knew exactly how bad the family had been hurt.

"It was very difficult not knowing and praying," Warren said.

The missionary family had just landed as the explosion ripped through the airport. They were coming back home from a conference in another part of the Philippines. Hyde was a colleague and friend who was there to pick them up.

When the bomb hit, Mark Stevens was off picking up their luggage.

"I tried calling them on the cell phone," said Larry Stevens of Springfield, Mark Stevens’ father and Barbara's father in law. "For three hours this morning, when I knew something had happened but didn't know exactly what, it was a pretty anxious time."

Larry Stevens, a chaplain at St. Johns Regional Health Center, says his son leans on his faith during this hard time.

“He's fine. He has a great deal of faith and the Lord's helping him get through it," said Larry Stevens.

Prayers and well wishes are pouring in from all over the country to comfort a family struck by international terror.

"E-mails from all over country are offering prayers for Mark, Barbara, and the kids," said Larry Stevens.

Warren says he doubts the bombing will curb the family's missionary zeal.

"We'll continue to support with prayer and telling them how much we love them and are thinking about them," the pastor said.

Larry Stevens says the young missionaries love their life in the Philippines. They met at Southwest Baptist University, married and soon after became Southern Baptist foreign missionaries. The danger that comes with spreading the love of God in a foreign land is something they accepted.

"We've talked about that, especially after 9-11. It does not matter where you are. You can be hit by terrorism," said Larry Stevens. ***

Bomb injures missionary family from Willard

***

Hyde had gone to the airport to meet the Stevens family, who had just arrived from Manila when the bomb went off. The family has lived in Davao City for five years doing missionary work with local tribes.

Hyde, a former music teacher, had been a missionary since 1978. He and his wife Lyn have two grown sons, one of whom is a missionary in Cambodia.

David Miller, pastor of Northbrook Baptist Church in Cedar Rapids, called Hyde “kind of the teddy bear type -- kind, gentle and always smiling.''

“The irony of a man that sweet and kind being killed in an act of terror and hatred is just really sad,'' Miller said.

“They knew that it was dangerous over there,'' he added. “They were on our prayer sheet week by week for their safety.''

Miller said the Hydes had been close friends of Martin and Gracia Burnham, American missionaries who were kidnapped in 2001 by another Muslim extremist group, Abu Sayyaf. Martin Burnham was killed and his wife was wounded during a rescue operation in June 2002. ***

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