Bogota: At least four people were killed and 14 inured when a bomb blast took place outside a homeless shelter and drug rehabilitation center in Colombia’s Medellin city, the top police official confirmed Saturday.
Condemning the incident in which six policemen were among the injured, Colombia’s police director Rodolfo Palomino offered a reward of 20 million Colombian pesos ($10, 000) to anyone providing information leading to the capture of those held responsible for the attack, Xinhua quoted local media as saying.
The blast occurred as a homeless man was carrying the explosives in a bag that was activated by phone, said Deputy Mayor of Medellin, Luis Fernando Suarez. “It exploded at the door and he died in that place, other three died in hospitals in Medellin and it also left six policemen injured and others wounded,” Suarez said.
The attack was directed against the actions carried out by the Mayor’s office and the Metropolitan Police of Medellin to crack down on the use of drugs among homeless people, he added.
The official claimed those behind the attack are drug dealers who oppose the new programme for the homeless who are consuming drugs to receive medical and psychological treatment in the centre, among others.