Bomb blast kills seven police officers

An explosion Friday afternoon killed seven police officers who were heading to a social welfare event in Colombia's southern department of Huila, according to the authorities. An eighth officer was hospitalized with injuries.

The national police said the officers killed Friday had been on the way to San Luis, a small town in Neiva, a municipality of 350,000 people, when an explosive went off in the town of Corozal. The youngest of the officers was 18, the police said.

The defense ministry initially reported that eight had been killed. Huila's police department Saturday confirmed that it was seven, and said that the injured officer had hidden in the forest until police found him.