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Explosion at Bogota club kills at least nine, more than 100 injured
Bogota, Feb 08: A powerful explosion rocked an exclusive club in Bogota last night, killing at least nine people, leaving more than 100 injured.
Bogota, Feb 08: A powerful explosion rocked an exclusive club in Bogota last night, killing at least nine people, leaving more than 100 injured.
The blast, which set the 10-story building ablaze, showered bricks and mortar onto a busy boulevard, crushing cars that were passing by. Police said nine people were known dead and 114 were injured, RCN radio and television reported. Mayor Antanas Mockus said it was unknown whether the explosion in the El Nogal Club - frequented by politicians and business executives - was caused by a bomb or something else.
"It was a huge explosion. I thought an airplane had crashed outside," said Luis Moreno, who lives across the street from the 10-story club. The explosion blew out the walls of two stories of an interior parking garage, raining rubble onto the street below. "We were having dinner when the bomb went off," one man, his face blackened by smoke, said as his wife was carried away on a stretcher by paramedics.
Black smoke poured from the building, and flames licked out from upper windows. Media reported that people were still trapped inside. Rescuers rushed to the scene, and paramedics could be seen giving cpr to a man lying amid the rubble. Catalina Ortiz told Radionet that she was driving with her daughter and husband on the main street in front of the club when she thought her car had been hit.
"When I looked back, I saw the club was on fire, with a ball of fire coming out of the third or fourth floor," Ortiz said. "While I was looking back, things began to fall out of the building."
Nearby buildings were also damaged in the explosion, authorities said. Bureau Report
The blast, which set the 10-story building ablaze, showered bricks and mortar onto a busy boulevard, crushing cars that were passing by. Police said nine people were known dead and 114 were injured, RCN radio and television reported. Mayor Antanas Mockus said it was unknown whether the explosion in the El Nogal Club - frequented by politicians and business executives - was caused by a bomb or something else.
"It was a huge explosion. I thought an airplane had crashed outside," said Luis Moreno, who lives across the street from the 10-story club. The explosion blew out the walls of two stories of an interior parking garage, raining rubble onto the street below. "We were having dinner when the bomb went off," one man, his face blackened by smoke, said as his wife was carried away on a stretcher by paramedics.
Black smoke poured from the building, and flames licked out from upper windows. Media reported that people were still trapped inside. Rescuers rushed to the scene, and paramedics could be seen giving cpr to a man lying amid the rubble. Catalina Ortiz told Radionet that she was driving with her daughter and husband on the main street in front of the club when she thought her car had been hit.
"When I looked back, I saw the club was on fire, with a ball of fire coming out of the third or fourth floor," Ortiz said. "While I was looking back, things began to fall out of the building."
Nearby buildings were also damaged in the explosion, authorities said. Bureau Report