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Blast at Bogota Club Kills More Than 20
By ANDREW SELSKY, Associated Press Writer BOGOTA, Colombia - A bomb tore through an elite social club in the capital, killing more than 20 people, wounding 100 and raising fears that Colombia's leftist rebels are making good on threats to attack the ruling class.
The powerful bomb rocked the 10-story El Nogal Club in north Bogota on Friday night, blowing brick and mortar onto a busy avenue, collapsing floors, and starting a fire that burned for about two hours through much of the building.
No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, had said several months ago it intended to attack Colombia's elite. The rebels have recently brought their four-decade war from the countryside into the cities.
The club was one of Colombia's most exclusive, and a symbol of wealth and power. It was frequented by politicians and business executives and included restaurants, a mini-golf course, a gym and rooms for overnight guests.
Witnesses had said children were to put on a ballet show at the club Friday night, and several children were among the injured. Their fate was not immediately known.
Jorge Velandia, who works at the miniature golf course, said the blast opened a hole in one of the floors and people tumbled through. Paramedics gave CPR to a man lying amid the rubble.
"It was a huge explosion. I thought an airplane had crashed outside," said Luis Moreno, who lives across the street from the club on Seventh Avenue and whose apartment building's windows were shattered.
Bogota Mayor Antanas Mockus said more than 20 people were killed and 100 or more injured in the blast, which could be heard for miles across this city of 7 million. Officials said the bomb had about 450 pounds of explosives.
"We felt an explosion that shook the whole building," said Alfonso Espejo, a doctor employed by the club. "It was almost impossible to breathe in the smoke."
It was the worst terrorist attack in Colombia since Pablo Escobar's Medellin drug cartel orchestrated a wave of bombings and assassinations in the 1980s and early 1990s in Colombia's cities to avoid his extradition to the United States.
After Escobar was killed by police in 1993, Colombia's cities saw little of the violence frequently seen in the countryside.
After Friday's bombing, black smoke poured from the building and flames licked out from upper windows. Scores of people stumbled from the wrecked building, many of their faces streaked with blood.
President Alvaro Uribe, who has promised to crack down on the 40-year leftist insurgency, visited the scene at midnight with his top security officials.
The attack was the second blow to hit Colombia in as many days.
On Thursday, a small plane carrying Minister of Social Welfare Juan Luis Londono and four other people disappeared on a domestic flight. Suspected rebels fired on a helicopter Friday searching the Andean mountains of central Colombia for the plane.
The helicopter was hit four times but returned safely to its base and no one was injured.
Civil aviation spokesman Martin Gonzalez said the search would continue despite the danger in the area, which is controlled by FARC rebels. The Mulindwas
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