Bomb Explodes Near Colombia Bullring, Injuring Dozens of Officers
19, 2017
BOGOTÁ, Colombia — A homemade bomb exploded near a bullring in Bogotá on Sunday, injuring
two dozen police officers and two civilians, the Colombian authorities said.
Some local news organizations speculated that the bomb might have been placed by members of the National Liberation Army,
the country’s second-largest rebel movement, which has carried out small attacks on police targets in recent weeks.
" Juan David Gonzalez, an owner of the hostel, El Pit, said
that his two dozen guests were shaken by the blast, but that none were injured. that We are going to do all that’s necessary to capture them.
Last month, the police fired tear gas and arrested dozens of young demonstrators as
mobs attacked spectators attending the first bullfight in the city in four years.
An official police statement said that 26 people had suffered shrapnel and blast injuries, all but two of them officers.
It was detonated just a few hours before a scheduled bullfight, as police officers
in riot gear were gathering ahead of a demonstration by animal rights activists.
A video of the explosion that was broadcast on local television shows a cloud of debris knocking down a phone cabling box
and quickly engulfing a busy street corner as cars and pedestrians pass.