Colombia Blast: 8 People Injured

Two explosions that blasted in Colombia’s capital, Bogota, on Thursday left eight injured. On Friday, President Juan Manuel Santos blamed the National Liberation Army, a leftist guerrilla movement known as ELN.

"The information that we have now indicates the perpetrators are the ELN guerillas and there is evidence to indicate this," Santos said in an address aired on the Colombian state-run television. He added that security measures are being reinforced in Bogota due to attacks occurred.

CNN affiliate Cablenoticias reports the blasts occurred outside the office of the Porvenir pension fund management. The image obtained by CNN shows shattered glasses on the ground and emergency personnel were at the scenes.

Meanwhile, Colombian Defence Minister Luis Carlos Villegas described the blasts as "terrorist acts." He added that the government was offering a reward of up to 100 million pesos ($50,500) for anyone who can give information about who was responsible for them.

The first blast occurred in the financial district, leaving seven people injured. While the second blast was in an industrial area of the city, and which left one person wounded, according to Bogota Health Secretary Mauricio Bustamante.

Meanwhile, there were five people who were left dead after a gas explosion at a coal mine in central Colombia, according to the head of the national disaster management agency. The disaster took place on Wednesday night at the Los Laureles mine about 130 kilometres northeast of Bogota, Carlos Ivan Marquez, the agency's director, confirmed to AFP.

The bodies of five miners were recovered after the blast. As per National Mining Agency, mining operations have been suspended in the area, and it has opened an investigation. "Preliminary data showed that the emergency originated with a methane gas explosion," an agency vice president, Javier Garcia, said.

Garcia added to his statement that rescue teams led by mining professionals were on the scene at 3:00 am local time Thursday, and by 7:30 a.m. the team recovered the bodies. Prensa Latina reports preliminary hypothesis suggests that the explosion caused the collapse of the tunnel and the workers were trapped under tones of earth. The source added there were more than 500 Colombians who have died in mine accidents during the last four years.

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