COLOMBIA: AT LEAST 32 PEOPLE ARE INJURED AFTER SUSPECTED MARXIST REBELS DETONATE A CAR BOMB OUTSIDE A SUPERMARKET IN BOGOTA

Record ID: 645702

  • Title: COLOMBIA: AT LEAST 32 PEOPLE ARE INJURED AFTER SUSPECTED MARXIST REBELS DETONATE A CAR BOMB OUTSIDE A SUPERMARKET IN BOGOTA
  • Date: 9th December 2002
  • Summary: (U7) BOGOTA, COLOMBIA (DECEMBER 9, 2002) (REUTERS) TRACK: WOMAN WITH INJURED CHILD WALKING DOWN ROAD SV: AREA OF CAR BOMB HAS: CARS DAMAGED BY EXPLOSION HIGH SHOT OF AREA OF CAR BOMB Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 24th December 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA
  • Country: Colombia
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVABLFICQ8JM1B50TN513EV9DAVE
  • Story Text: At least 32 people have been left injured after suspected Marxist rebels detonated a car bomb outside a supermarket in Bogota.
    A powerful car bomb exploded in a supermarket parking lot in Colombia's capital on Monday (December 09), injuring 32 people and shattering windows blocks away -- in an attack police quickly blamed on Marxist rebels.
    Authorities said the target of the attack was not the supermarket and instead a small police office, located just feet (meters) from the parked pick-up truck, packed with about 150 pounds (70 kilos) of explosives.
    The bomb detonated at about 12:30 pm (1700 GMT), carving a six foot-wide crater in the black asphalt. The police office was virtually unscathed, with the explosion knocking out just one of its four bullet-proof windows.
    The vast majority of the injured were hit by flying shards of glass as the explosion ripped through nearby office windows. They were classified as "lightly wounded" by police, while a just few victims were believed to be in serious condition.
    Police attributed the attack to Latin America's largest rebel army, the 17,000-member Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known by its Spanish initials "FARC." The rebels were also blamed for an October car bomb outside Bogota's police headquarters, which killed two people and wounded 36 others.
    Police offered a reward of about $18,000 U.S. in the case.
    "We've counted on the support of the community and we expect to have it now again now," said national police director General Teodoro Campo. "There is, however, a reward for anyone who gives us information that leads to the identification and capture of those responsible for this crime. We are offering 50 million pesos (about US $18,000) for this information."
    Colombian car bombs are not employed exclusively by the country's rebels, and in the past have also been tools of common criminals fighting turf wars, or looking to extract extortion money from businessmen.
    Still, the FARC have been increasingly taking their bombing campaigns to Colombian cities over the past several years. The country's 38-year-old guerrilla conflict has claimed about 40,000 lives in the past decade.
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