Bangkok – A small bomb struck a Bangkok military hospital on Monday wounding more than 20 people, police said, three years to the day since the army seized power of the politically unstable kingdom.

“From the initial report it was a bomb… there are more than 20 people injured,” Deputy National Police Chief General Srivara Rangsibrahmanakul told reporters.

“It was likely to be in a package,” Srivara said, adding that “battery and wires” were found at the scene.

Local media said the device detonated in the hospital pharmacy, sparking panic and sending smoke into the corridors but caused only minor injuries.

Police said the hospital was not evacuated while medical emergency staff at the Erawan Rescue Centre said 24 people were injured.

Police are already hunting suspects behind two other small blasts in recent weeks, but have given conflicting information over the devices and likely suspects.

Thailand remains starkly divided since the May 22, 2014 coup, but dissent has broadly been silenced by a military with sweeping security powers.

Until Monday’s blast political violence that defined much of the last decade had subsided, with militant elements among pro-democracy groups arrested or in hiding.

An explosion was heard inside Phramongkutklao Hospital in Rajthevi district in Bangkok on Monday morning.

Initial reports said the incident took place at a reception room of retired officials and there were about 23 people injured, mostly from being showered with broken window glass.

It is thought a gas leak and air compressor may have caused the explosion.

27-year-old Indian climber Ravi Kumar goes missing

Mt Everest has claimed its fourth victim in 22 days after two mountaineers-an American and a Slovakian-died near the summit of the world’s tallest peak on Sunday.

Meanwhile, a 27-year-old Indian climber Ravi Kumar has been missing from so called ‘balcony’ (8,400 metre), near the summit, since Saturday after his successful ascent of Mt Everest.

The chances of his survival are slim, as over 24 hours have elapsed since he went missing in the extreme climate, mountaineering officials said.

With this death toll, 45 people have lost their lives on Mt Everest in the last four years.

The 50-year-old American physician, Roland Yearwood, died at ‘balcony’ (8,400 metres) on Sunday, said Gyanendra Shrestha, an official of the Tourism Ministry.

He was a part of the 15-member team of SummitClimb Everest Expedition 2017 led by Daniel Lee Mazur.

The 49-year-old Slovakian solo climber Vladimir Strba died at Camp IV on Sunday afternoon.

Strba, holder of passport No.BA8369477, had sustained serious injuries due to frostbite.

“The reason for Yearwood’s death is yet to be confirmed,” he said.

However, initial report suggests he may have suffered altitude sickness-also known as acute mountain sickness (AMS)-a pathological effect of high altitude on humans caused by acute exposure to low partial pressure of oxygen at high altitude.

Yearwood, holding passport No. 552705032, had returned to Nepal after an earthquake-triggered avalanche on April 25, 2015 prevented him from climbing the mountain.

His body which has been left stranded at 8,400 metres is difficult to bring down.

“The issue is complicated. It’s too much risk to bring his body down. It’s extremely difficult and dangerous,” said Murari Krishna Sharma, managing director of Everest Parivar Expedition, the agency that handled Yearwood’s expedition.

“However, we will consult with his family members and high-altitude guides to assess whether we can take a risk.”

Given the risks involved in spending so much time at high altitudes, many climbing teams decide not to bring down the dead bodies.

Nearly 300 people have died on Mt Everest since the first ascent to the peak was made in 1953.

It is estimated that more than 200 dead bodies are still lying on the mountain.

Meanwhile, whereabouts of Indian climber Kumar is unknown. “Search and rescue efforts are underway,” said Chowang Sherpa, managing director of Arun Treks and Expedition, the handling agency of Kumar’s expedition.

“It was a wrong timing. The expedition began late and the Indian climber with his Sherpa guide reached the summit at 1:28pm on Saturday.”

He said the Indian climber had forced the guide to push for summit even though it was not the appropriate time for climbing.

“We had clearly directed our guides to return if they were unable to reach the summit before 11am,” said Chowang.

Lack of oxygen coupled with extreme temperatures and weather later in the afternoon creates a greater risk of death on the mountain.

According to Chowang, the Indian climber had collapsed at 8pm due to low level of energy and oxygen when they were descending from the summit.

The Sherpa guide then left the Indian climber at the balcony with supplementary oxygen after he failed to walk.

The guide then descended to Camp IV to send a rescue team as he suffered multiple injuries due to frostbite and snow blindness.

But when three high-altitude guides reached the place, they didn’t find the Indian there, said Chowang.

“The climbers, who descended, did not see him as well,” he informed, adding that he might have slipped from the location where he was taking a rest.

“We will be sending four rescue guides on Monday as well, but his chances of survival are very thin on such extreme climate.”

This year’s climbing season has already been marred by three deaths. The 85-year-old Nepali, Min Bahadur Sherchan, and experienced Swiss climber Ueli Steck died during an acclimatisation climb.

Last year, Everest had claimed six lives.

On April 18, 2014, there was an avalanche near Everest Base Camp which killed 16 Nepali guides.

Rescuers pulled out 13 bodies and the remaining three were never recovered, as search and rescue operations were called off due to adverse weather condition.

Then in 2015, quake-triggered avalanches killed 19 climbers.

70 reach Everest peak

At least 70 climbers, including high-altitude climbing guides, successfully reached the world’s tallest peak on Sunday morning, taking advantage of a good weather window.

An equal number of Everest aspirants are waiting to climb the summit on Monday, government officials said. Since May 15, more than 150 individuals have reached the summit.

According to the Tourism Department, 373 fee-paying climbers have received permits to make an attempt on the world’s tallest peak this spring.

This is the highest number of climbing permits issued for Everest expedition during a single season.

With each climber hiring at least one local climbing guide, the total number of climbers is likely to touch 800 this season.

On May 15, the Gurkha Everest Expedition reached the top of Mt Everest, becoming the first to scale the world’s tallest peak this year.

The House of Representatives justice committee on Monday formally killed the impeachment complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte after it approved the committee report finding no substance in the ouster move

This after the justice committee chaired by Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali unanimously approved its report finding no substance in the impeachment complaint filed by Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano. Seventeen members were present.

Thus starts the one-year ban for impeachment against the President, Umali said.

“By unanimous vote, the committee report on resolution dismissing the verified complaint for impeachment and supplemental complaint affidavit filed by Rep. Gary Alejano against President Rodrigo Duterte, effectively putting a one-year ban on any and all impeachment complaints that may be filed against the president, is hereby approved unanimously,” Umali said.

According to Section 4, Rule III of the House Rules of Procedure in Impeachment Proceedings, the House committee on justice is mandated to determine if an impeachment complaint is sufficient in form and substance if the recital of facts constitutes the offences charged.

According to Section 3, Article XI of the 1987 Constitution, no impeachment proceedings should be initiated against an impeachable officer more than once within a period of one year. Impeachment proceedings against impeachable officers like the President initiates in the lower House.

According to the approved committee report, the verified complaints were sufficient in form, but were defective and insufficient in substance especially after Alejano, who stood as complainant, admitted he had no personal knowledge on the allegations in the complaints.

The committee report said the complaints were not sufficient in substance especially because the recital of facts was mere hearsay and did not constitute the offences charged.

“(S)ince based on the admission by the complainant Rep. Alejano that he had no personal knowledge of the allegations he made in his complaint, such recital of facts are all mere hearsay.”

Alejano filed the two impeachment complaints against Duterte for his alleged role in state-sponsored killings and the Davao Death Squad, his alleged hidden wealth, as well as his alleged inaction to uphold the country’s sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea, Panatag Shoal and Benham Rise amid the administration’s warming of ties with China.

While the justice committee found sufficient form in the complaints, it found no substance, primarily due to the failure of Alejano to verify “hearsay” allegations from self-confessed Davao Death Squad members Edgar Matobato and Arturo Lascañas.

The committee then forwarded the committee report to the plenary for approval. It also recommended the amendment of the House Rules of Procedure in Impeachment Proceedings that impeachment complaints may be dismissed based on insufficiency of form.

It was Majority Leader Rudy Fariñas who led the heated debate with Alejano last Monday, accusing the latter of committing perjury and ethics violations when he duly endorsed the impeachment complaints even though these were based on news reports and testimonies of other witnesses.

Fariñas said it was clear Alejano had no personal knowledge of his allegation that over 8,000 drug suspects have been killed in the administration’s brutal war on drugs.

He added that Alejano also had no personal knowledge that drug suspects were extrajudicially killed by the Davao Death Squad allegedly formed by Duterte when the latter was Davao City mayor.

Fariñas said Alejano himself admitted no personal knowledge by quoting other persons in the complaint such as Lascañas and Matobato.

“Clearly, it’s not in his personal knowledge. That is the defect here… You are introducing statements under oath, these are not your own. Lalabas hearsay po ito (It would appear that these are hearsay),” Fariñas said in a heated debate with Alejano.

Alejano insisted that he had personal knowledge when he believed in the authenticity of the official documents and the news reports.

“I culled from important records including the news reports regarding the authentic records. I understand we are not here where we would present the evidence. There is no marking of evidence yet,” Alejano said.

“My allegations are based on authentic records… In proper time we will present the authentic records, Mr. Chair,” he added.

At least 42 members of the committee stood up and found the impeachment complaint insufficient in substance.

With his impeachment complaints dismissed, Alejano said he would take his ouster bid against President Duterte to the International Criminal Court, where the Chief Executive already faces a complaint for crimes against humanity with his allies in connection with his administration’s brutal drug war.

MANILA – President Duterte is scheduled to receive an honorary doctorate from the prestigious Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) during his official visit to Russia this week.

This comes after Mr. Duterte, who described himself as a reluctant recipient of awards, earlier turned down an offer from the University of the Philippines to confer him the Doctor of Laws degree.

The award from the MGIMO is the first international honorary degree that the President will receive.

Mr. Duterte is also expected to deliver a policy speech at the MGIMO on Wednesday, May 24, where he is expected to discuss his independent foreign policy. He might also talk about his ideas on how to achieve peace and security, especially in the Asia Pacific region, the Department of Foreign Affairs said earlier.

After his speech, he will have a dialogue with students and donate books to the MGIMO library.

The MGIMO is known as an elite institution for diplomatic training and international relations, according to the DFA.

It has conferred honorary doctorate degrees to foreign politicians, public experts, diplomats and scholars, working in the field of international relations and foreign policy.

President Fidel Ramos, whom Mr. Duterte has credited for urging him to run for President, received an honorary doctorate from the MGIMO in 1997.

The most recent honorary degree awardees were French President Nikolas Sarkozy and Kyrgyzstan Minister of Foreign Affairs Erlan Abdyldaev in 2015.

Among the other recipients of the honorary degree from the MGIMO were United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and international financier and philanthropist George Soros, whom Mr. Duterre had criticised in connection with their human rights advocacies. The late Singapore prime minister and founding leader Lee Kuan Yew was also a recipient of the same award.

Mr. Duterte is scheduled to arrive in Moscow on Monday evening (early Tuesday in Manila).