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MANILA : Forensic experts from the US and Australia are helping detectives in the Philippines investigate last Friday's shopping mall blast.
Philippine police have not found bomb fragments and say they have not ruled out the possibility that the explosion was an accident.
The explosion in the Makati financial district left 11 dead.
Investigators in the Philippines are still trying to confirm the cause of the powerful blast that ripped through the Glorietta mall in the capital on Friday.
Local authorities had identified traces of RDX, a main component of the C4 military grade plastic explosive, but American investigators studying the blast site did not detect similar traces.
Investigators are now exploring the possibility of the explosion being caused by an accident in the basement of the mall.
They say fumes could have leaked from a huge diesel fuel container or methane gas could have escaped from a septic tank, igniting the tightly-enclosed concrete basement.
The uncertainties contributed to a 4 percent dip in the stock market on Monday.
Joel Gaborni, Head, Public and Investor Relations, Philippine Stock Exchange, said, "We are like the rest of the country waiting for conclusive finding - we appeal to investors to remain calm….we don't want to add to the confusion and the tension."
Businessmen are concerned that until investigators pinpoint the perpetrators of the explosion, investor confidence could continue to decline.
Alberto Lim, Executive Director, Makati Business Club, said, "It will certainly give them a pause...this bomb is a major event that could signal a red light to them."
Businessmen are hoping that the Glorietta 2 explosion is just an isolated incident and not similar to events in the early 1970s which led to the declaration of Martial Law.
Some observers even suggest that the explosion may have been staged by members of the Arroyo administration, to divert attention from allegations of corruption against the president.
Mr Lim said, "Before Marcos declared martial law, he staged events like bombings to show that we are in a bad state - to give justification to martial law."
Other than investigators from America's Federal Bureau of Investigation, anti-terrorism experts from Australia's Federal Police are also helping Philippine authorities pinpoint the cause of the blast. - CNA/ms
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