COLOMBIA: Security camera video show moment of Bogota suspected car bomb explosion

Record ID: 356525

  • Title: COLOMBIA: Security camera video show moment of Bogota suspected car bomb explosion
  • Date: 13th August 2010
  • Summary: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA (AUGUST 12, 2010) (REUTERS) GENERAL VIEW OF SCENE OUTSIDE CARACOL RADIO STATION COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT JUAN MANUEL SANTOS ARRIVING AT SCENE POLICE AND PRESIDENTIAL SECURITY OUTSIDE RADIO STATION SOUNDBITE (Spanish) SANTOS SAYING: "It is a terrorist act and for that reason we cannot fall into the trap. I ask that we continue with our normal lives. The auth
  • Embargoed: 28th August 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Colombia
  • Country: Colombia
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA9RH7PRMH5WCDVJU5GU2KYAQAN
  • Story Text: A suspected car bomb exploded on Thursday (August 12) in the Colombian capital Bogota, injuring six and blowing out windows.
    The incident happend outside Radio Caracol, one of Colombia's main broadcasters.
    Police said there were no deaths in the first major bombing since President Juan Manuel Santos took office at the weekend.
    Santos told reporters at the site of the blast that the attack was a terrorist act.
    "It is a terrorist act and for that reason we cannot fall into the trap. I ask that we continue with our normal lives. The authorities will carry out their investigations and once again, to all our Colombians, let's continue with our normal lives. They are not going to ruin the party, as they say. They are not going to achieve that. We are going to continue fighting terrorism with everything we have in our reach," said Santos.
    Bombings and attacks on Colombian cities have dropped sharply since former President Alvaro Uribe took office in 2002. Violence from the country's war ebbed as Uribe's security campaign battered leftist rebels and drug traffickers.
    The main anchorman of Caracol has received threats from armed groups before and has in the past left Colombia for his safety.
    Windows as high as 30 stories were blasted out in buildings along Bogota's main 7th Avenue and glass was still falling onto the streets after the attack.
    One eye-witness described the moment the explosion happened.
    "We were inside the building of Radio Caracol. I work there and at 5.30 in the morning we felt a very, very strong explosion. The impact was enormous. The glass that was facing our studio blew in. Part of the ceiling collapsed. The master control, where Dario Arizmendi and Erica Fontalvo were, also suffered damaged, parts of the ceiling came down. There was a lot of confusion and the impact was very strong."
    Santos pledged to continue Uribe's security campaign and his pro-investment policies that have helped the Andean country overcome the dark days of its conflict when bombings and massacres made daily newspaper headlines.
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