A young merchant, an informal saleswoman and an assistant of the National Police They are now part of the extensive list of victims of the armed conflict in the department of Nariño, whose families now mourn their early absence.
These are Jonier Valencia, María Ligia Valencia and Santiago Moreno Ríos who at dusk on Friday, June 21, were very close to the Police station of the Remolino district, municipality of Taminango, north of Nariño, when dusk fell and Soon, a loud explosion resounded and left the entire population paralyzed… “They were moments of great confusion and anguish,” say some residents, “then the tragedy became known… a bomb.”
When the incident occurred, the community helped rescue several injured people, a total of 12, but on the way to the hospital, three died.
The car bomb used in the terrorist attack was in an improvised parking lot, where vehicles immobilized at checkpoints are kept. carried out by that institution on the Pan-American Highway, in the section between the cities of Pasto and Popayán.
These are the victims behind the terrorist attack
Jonier Alexander Valencia was a young merchant from the La Esmeralda district, in the municipality of El Rosario., who had arrived a few years ago to seek a better future in the town of Remolino, where he opened a small business selling cell phones and accessories. With the explosion of the car bomb he suffered serious injuries in different parts of his body. Unfortunately, when he was transferred to a hospital in the city of Pasto, his heart stopped beating.
Young victim of attack in Nariño
Photo:Courtesy social networks
María Ligia Meléndez was an active informal seller that at the time the explosive device was activated he also suffered serious injuries that caused his death minutes later. The woman had a fast food stall right in front of the Police substation.
The third fatal victim left by this new act of violence was identified as Santiago Juseph Moreno Ríos, police assistant, single, was originally from the municipality of Túquerres, he was only 19 years old, he had joined the police institution 11 months ago.
Police Auxiliary, another of the victims of the attack in Nariño
Photo:Courtesy of the National Police
Two other uniformed officers who were part of the Police substation were injured, so they were transferred to the capital of Nariño where they are recovering.
‘It was an attack against the community’
In a contingency plan advanced by the Volunteer Fire Department and the San Juan Bautista Hospital of Taminango, medical personnel and ambulances moved from the municipal seat to the El Remolino district, in a 45-minute journey along a road in fair condition.
Jaime Ojeda, one of the members of the relief organization, commented on the sad scenario he found when he arrived at the site of the terrorist attack.
“There were a number of people who were injured and considerable material losses,” he said, adding that “the explosive wave always left damage to vehicles, motorcycles and home windows for an area of one hundred meters.”
He specified that “the psychological impact was the most serious, there are several street vendors who have their informal sales that were close to the place and were also affected.”
He maintained that at that time of day there were also tourists passing through the site who moved from Pasto in search of the warm climate that predominates in the small town, who were affected mainly by the noise caused by the strong explosion.
He said that very close there is the bar ‘La Patrona’, which “at that time was very busy with locals and visitors, those people were very affected emotionally because of an attack that was against the Remolino community.”
He noted that minutes later “People were very afraid that another explosion or a new attack could cause greater harm.”
The slightly injured were taken to the nearest health center, while the more seriously injured were taken to the San Pedro Hospital in Pasto.
The volunteer recalled that in the month of August of the previous year there was another attack, but with a lesser impact that only left material damage to vehicles and motorcycles.
For his part, the Secretary of the Government of Nariño, Benildo Estupiñán, vehemently rejected the act of violence and expressed that “our town and Taminango have to know that they have a departmental government aligned with the National Government that will give the results as soon as possible with the whereabouts of the intellectual and material authors of this unfortunate event.”
This Saturday morning in Pasto, an extraordinary security council is held, in which the civil, military and police authorities of Nariño participate, with the aim of adopting new control and surveillance measures in the territory, aimed at protecting to the civilian population.
The National Police announced a reward of up to 50 million pesos for information that allows the capture of those responsible for this attack. against the Police substation in the Remolino district, which also affected the civilian population.
