3 die in Colombia bombing

Bogota, June 18: A strong explosion from a bomb rocked one of the busiest shopping centres here killing three people, including a 23-year-old French woman, and injuring nine others, authorities said.

Witnesses told of being evacuated from movie theaters and stores after the blast in a second-floor women’s restroom at the upscale Centro Andino, in the heart of Bogota’s tourist district, on Saturday. Ambulances and firetrucks rushed to the scene and the injured were taken to a hospital, where two later died.

Police said that a bomb from an undetermined explosive had caused the destruction. Mayor Enrique Penalosa said that the French victim, Julie Huynh, had been in Colombia the past six months volunteering in a poor neighbourhood.