05/22/2024
One dead and 29 injured left, so far, the explosion at the El Vaquero powder store, located in the municipality of Soacha, in Cundinamarca.
The mayor of the municipality, Julián Sánchez, reported that, as of 6:25 p.m. this Wednesday, that was the number of people injured as a result of the emergency that occurred at the powder factory headquarters, located next door. of the Southern Highway, between the Ducales and Share neighborhoods.
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Sánchez indicated that 19 injured people are being treated at the San Luis clinic, In the Cardiovascular hospital there are five injured, while in the Mario Gaitán Yanguas hospital four people remain and only one in the Simón Bolívar hospital.
Captain Álvaro Farfán, of the Cundinamarca Fire Department, was the one who reported, at 7:00 pm that a woman was the first victim of the explosion.
The emergency occurred after 4:00 in the afternoon and in addition to the thunderous noise, it generated a high column of smoke, which was recorded in several videos that are already circulating on social networks.
“At this time they continue to attend to the emergency: the authorities of the Mayor’s Office of Soacha, Official Firefighters of Soacha, Volunteer Firefighters of Soacha, Volunteer Firefighters of San Antonio del Tequendama, Official Firefighters of Bogotá and Firefighters of Cundinamarca,” Mayor Sánchez told via X (formerly Twitter).
Firefighters They are cooling hot spots and controlling hazardous materials.. Likewise, the authorities asked drivers who cross the South Highway to be patient, since there are fire engines and relief agencies along that road corridor that are attending to the situation.
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They are also present in the powder shop CTI anti-explosive unitsuniformed officers of the Soacha Metropolitan Police and members of the Civil defense.
The mayor of Bogotá, Carlos Fernando Galán, expressed solidarity with the situation experienced by the neighboring municipality and announced, in X, the sending of lifeguards to help deal with the emergency.
“All our solidarity with Soacha for the explosion registered a few minutes ago in a gunpowder factory. A team of 19 firefighters from the Puente Aranda, Kennedy and Central stations, with 2 fire extinguishing machines, 2 tank trucks and a hazardous materials machine from the Bogotá Fire Departmentis traveling at this time to support the emergency response,” reported the capital’s president on the social network.
The El Vaquero powder shop is one of the most recognized in the country and its experience has led it to be in charge of pyrotechnics for large shows in different regions. The company has offices in 20 departments such as Cundinamarca, Antioch, Atlántico, Boyacá, Casanare, Caldas, Caquetá, Cesar, Córdoba, Guaviare, Huila, Meta, Nariño, Magdalena, Norte de Santander, Tolima, Risaralda, Sucre, Santander and Valle del Cauca.
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