Explosion in southern Philippines kills 19

MANILA, Philippines -- A bomb hidden in a backpack exploded Tuesday at an airport in the southern Philippines, killing at least 19 people, including an American missionary, and wounding nearly 150, authorities said. The government called it a "brazen act of terrorism."\nThree Americans were among the wounded. Many of the injured were in serious condition, and officials feared the death toll could rise. The dead included a boy, a girl, 10 men and seven women.\nThe attack came at a time of debate over the mandate of 1,000 troops the United States has offered to send to the Philippines to help fight another violent Muslim group. The deployment was put on hold after many Filipinos objected to the troops having a combat role.\nNo one claimed responsibility for the blast at Davao airport on Mindanao island. The military has blamed Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels for recent violence, including a car-bombing at nearby Cotabato airport last month that killed one woman.\nMILF spokesman Eid Kabalu denied his group was responsible. He condemned the attack and said the MILF was ready to cooperate in an investigation.\nA statement from President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said police detained "several men" in connection with the blast. Arroyo said she ordered police and the military "to hunt down the bombers and their accomplices."\nIn Washington, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the explosion had "all the earmarkings of terrorism."\n"The president condemns the bombing in the Philippines this morning. We are working closely with the Philippine government, which has fought valiantly in the war on terror," Fleischer told reporters.\nA civil defense spokeswoman in Davao, Susan Madrid, said the explosion occurred at 5:20 p.m. local time as dozens of people waited for a plane to arrive.\n"I saw bodies flying," Terry Labado, an airport official said.\n"We rushed out of the building to see where the explosion happened. We saw many dead."\nAn 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. TV footage showed the waiting stand in front of the terminal building wrecked by the blast, and pieces of metal strewn on the road.\n"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.\nNational Police Deputy Chief Edgar Aglipay told a Manila radio station that the explosion was caused by a bomb hidden inside a backpack.\nMadrid said 18 people were killed and 147 were injured. One hospital alone reported 91 casualties. In addition to the 18 others killed, an American also died, the American Embassy said.\nThe Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board in Richmond, Va., confirmed that its missionary William P. Hyde, 59, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, died in surgery from severe head and leg injuries. Hyde was meeting other Southern Baptist missionaries at the airport as they returned from a family trip.\nMissionary Barbara Wallis Stevens, 33, of Willard, Mo., was slightly injured and her son Nathan, 10 months, was hit by shrapnel in the liver. She said her daughter Sarah also was injured but released after treatment. Her husband escaped injuries.\nStevens said in a telephone interview from the hospital that her family had just arrived from Manila when the bomb went off.\n"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."\n"Our hearts go out to these families and their coworkers," said a statement issued by Southern Baptist spokesman Larry Cox. "We are moving quickly to assist the missionaries affected by this tragedy."\nHyde worked in church leadership development. He and wife Lyn have two grown sons.\nDavao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte ordered all pharmacies and drug stores to remain open to supply medicine to the victims. Flights to and from Davao were suspended.\nArroyo called an emergency meeting of the Cabinet oversight committee on internal security later Tuesday. She said the bombing was "a brazen act of terrorism which shall not go unpunished"