March 5, 2003
by Eleanor Lundy, American Baptist International Ministries

VALLEY FORGE, Pa. - No American Baptist missionaries serving in the Philippines were injured in yesterday's bombing attack at Davao International Airport in the Philippines, according to the Rev. Benjamin Chan, American Baptist International Ministries' area director for East Asia, India, Hong Kong and China. Chan said his office has been in contact with those missionaries, all of whom are based some distance from Davao City.

The powerful bomb, planted in an abandoned rucksack, exploded about 5:15 p.m. local time in a crowded passenger shelter near the airport's main terminal, leaving 21 dead and about 170 others injured, according to The New York Times. Davao, the Philippines' second-largest city, is located in the rebellion-torn Mindanao Islands region of the southern Philippines.

Among the dead was William P. Hyde, a Southern Baptist missionary from Iowa, who had lived and worked in the Philippines since 1978. Three other Americans were reported injured in the blast. The bombing occurred amidst escalating terrorist attacks as the United States makes plans to deploy more than 1,000 anti-terror troops in the Philippines.

"Our prayers are with the families of the deceased and the injured, and we send our condolences to the Southern Baptist Convention," said Chan. "We also are asking for prayer support for our partner convention, the Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches, as well as for our missionaries and for the churches in the Davao region."

American Baptist News Service