Three dead and nine injured after powerful blast rocks Bogota shopping centre

Firefighters stand outside the Centro Andino shopping centre in Bogota, Colombia CREDIT:RICARDO MAZALAN/AP

•  Our Foreign Staff 

18 JUNE 2017 • 2:28AM

Astrong explosion 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, authorities said.

Witnesses told of being evacuated from movie theaters and stores after a blast in a second-floor bathroom. Ambulances and firetrucks rushed to the scene and the injured were taken to a hospital.

Bogota Mayor Enrique Penalosa condemned what he called a "cowardly terrorist bombing" at the upscale Centro Andino in the heart of Bogota's tourist district.

He said the victim had been in Colombia the past six months volunteering in a poor neighborhood and was preparing to return to France in the coming days. Of the 11 injured, three suffered serious injuries, he said.

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.

A woman is evacuated on a gurney after an explosion at the Centro Andino shopping centre CREDIT: RICARDO MAZALAN/AP

The government last year reached a peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which was much bigger than the ELN. The ELN is also engaged in peace talks but has so far refused for its fighters to lay down their weapons. Some analysts attribute an uptick in violence in Colombian cities to the group's desire to wrest concessions from the government at the negotiating table.

Bogota has seen dramatic improvement in security over the past decade as the country's long-running conflict has wound down. But the capital remains vulnerable to attacks as residents let down their guard

Still, the Andino shopping center would seem a difficult target. All vehicles entering the parking garage are screened by bomb-sniffing dogs and security guards are present throughout the mall.

President Juan Manuel Santos ordered the head of Colombia's police to lead the investigation and keep him regularly updated. In a message posted on Twitter he expressed his solidarity with the victims.