Colombia: Bombing at mall kills three

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) – A strong explosion from a bomb rocked one of the busiest shopping centers in Colombia’s capital Saturday, 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. Ambulances and firetrucks rushed to the scene and the injured were taken to a hospital, where two later died.

Police said a bomb from an undetermined explosive had caused the destruction. Mayor Enrique Penalosa called it a “cowardly terrorist bombing.”

He said the French victim, identified as Julie Huynh, had been in Colombia the past six months volunteering in a poor neighborhood and was preparing to return to France in the coming days. He said authorities were providing assistance to the victim’s mother, who was also in Bogota.

Authorities’ attention immediately focused on the country’s largest still active rebel group, the National Liberation Army, or ELN, which in February claimed responsibility for a bombing near Bogota’s bullring that killed one police officer and injured 20 other people.