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At least one woman died and 29 people were injured this Wednesday in an explosion at a gunpowder and fireworks factory in the Colombian municipality of Soachaneighbor of the capital Bogotáauthorities reported.
“We had an incident at the company’Cowboy‘. (…) We have a report of 29 injuries, two in critical condition and one deceased, a woman“, assured the city’s mayor to reporters, Juan Sánchez Perico.
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The detonation, the origin of which is being investigated, shook an industrial area at 4:38 pm local time (9:38 pm GMT), according to local media.
We deeply regret the emergency situation that the emblematic pyrotechnics factory is experiencing #Cowboy in the municipality of #Soacha, which left 34 injured and one dead. Since @CundinamarcaGobWe have supported humanitarian aid agencies in… pic.twitter.com/z4IyyY4YiP
— Jorge Emilio Rey Ángel (@JorgeEmilioRey) May 23, 2024
In the affected factory there were 150 workers who “were evacuated“, said the mayor.
Aerial footage shared by W Radio shows emergency services battling the fire inside the building with several tankers.
“So far, 80% of the emergency is under control”, said Sánchez, ensuring that more than 200 lifeguards are on site.
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Authorities in the country’s neighboring capital mobilized a team of “19 firefighters, 2 extinguishing machines, 2 tankers and 1 hazardous materials machine“to collaborate with the work, said the mayor on the social network Luís Carlos Galán.
According to videos published on social media by residents of the sector, the explosion caused a huge column of smoke that rose over the populous city, located south of Bogotá.
The windows of nearby houses were destroyed, as shown in other recordings provided to AFP by firefighters.
Source: Elcomercio
I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.
