Over 30 people have been injured after a grenade explosion in a nightclub in Caucasia in the Antioquia province of northern Columbia, Caucasia’s mayor Oscar Anibal Suarez said Friday.
Speaking to the Caracol radio station, the mayor said that the grenade was thrown by a man and a woman that were detained soon after.
“Recently, [the suspect] has already carried out various attacks,” Suarez added, noting that the 23-year-old detainee belonged to a local criminal group, where he acted as a killer.
The official presumed that the attack could be linked to extortion demands from a local criminal group after the club owner had failed to pay, however, he did not disclose the group’s name.
The incident reportedly took place in the Bora Bora nightclub close to midnight local time. According to media reports, from 11 to 13 of the injured are in critical condition. Local authorities are looking into the identification of the perpetrators and their links to organized criminal bands.
Later in the day, citing the police, media reported that the explosive device was set off by a member of the Gulf Clan, one of Colombia’s most powerful drug-trafficking paramilitary group, involved in the Colombian armed conflict.
MEXICO CITY, (Sputnik)
