MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Girl wounded at bombing of Colombian police station dies

There is a US$ 75,000 reward to help catch those behind the bombing

A bomb attack against a police station in the Colombian capital of Bogotá last Saturday has a new fatal victim after a 5-year-old girl who was wounded in the incident died Monday, authorities have confirmed.

A 12-year-old boy had already been killed Saturday when the bomb went off. His schoolmates paid him a tribute Monday, together with Bogota Mayor Claudia López.

The bombing of a small police station in a popular neighborhood south of Bogotá had left dozens injured and damaged over 60 homes in the area.

The Fundación Hospital Pediátrico de la Misericordía (HOMI) Monday said the girl had been admitted with a “severe cranioencephalic trauma.” She was treated by specialists and then transferred to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) where she died.

The attack took place Saturday night in the Arborizadora Alta neighborhood, where a suitcase bomb was left behind and set off in a controlled manner, leaving 33 people injured, while the explosive wave caused damage to 66 houses in that sector of the city.

Colombian President Iván Duque blamed Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) dissidents, while a reward of CO$ 300 million (US$ 75,000) was offered to anyone who can help identify and capture the perpetrators.

“We are saddened by the death of Ivanna Rangel, a victim of the cowardly terrorism of the FARC dissidents,” Duque said on Twitter. “With deep sorrow, we express our condolences to her family. We will not rest until we find the perpetrators of this atrocious attack, which has brought grief to the country,” he went on.

News of Ivanna's death reached the other boy's school while Mayor López was taking part in the tribute. “We will do everything necessary so that those criminally responsible for this act pay before justice,” López warned, as she asked people not to make political use of what had happened, ahead of the upcoming presidential elections.

The boy's parents said that the child had left home to buy some groceries at a store in front of the police station where the explosive device went off.