An explosion at the El Vaquero powder store in Soacha caused the death of a woman and affected more than 30 people.who were transferred to care centers due to serious injuries.
It all happened on the afternoon of this Wednesday, May 22, when there was a detonation that generated a long column of smoke.
Because of the explosion, 150 company workers were evacuated, several of whom were near the area where the emergency originated.
The hypothesis of the explosion in the Soacha powder factory
The injured were taken to several hospitals in Soacha and Bogotá.
Photo:Cesar Melgarejo. TIME
Carlos Carvajal, representative of the family that owns the powder shop, assured Citytv that at 4:30 pm he began receiving calls, alerting him of what had happened.
“I was outside the company. I arrived here and saw many authorities to whom I thank,” he said.
Based on the information that Carvajal has, There was an area where they were handling gunpowder, a base of sulfur, nitrate and charcoal.
“It was ignited by a spark and it hit two containers that were full of flying, finished product, which generated a large explosion. What he did was that splinters began to fly and that was what caused most of the injuries to people,” he said for the television cameras.
Carlos Carvajal, from the El Vaquero powder shop.
Photo:Citytv.
Carvajal expressed solidarity with the family of the woman who died, whose identity is not yet known, and anticipated that the company will be accompanying the victims: “We hope to be able to compensate for the damages.”
Authorities verify each place in the establishment to provide a hypothesis of what would have happened.
The report of victims after an explosion in a powder shop in Soacha
With cut-off at 8:10 pm, the report from the authorities, shared by the mayor of Soacha, Julián Sánchez Perico, indicated that There were 33 people injured and one woman dead.
El Vaquero Powder Store.
Photo:César Melgarejo. TIME.
The injured were taken to the following care centers:
- Cardiovascular Hospital: 8 people
- San Luis Clinic: 20 people
- Mario Gaitán Yanguas Hospital: 4 people
- Simón Bolívar Hospital: 1 person.
The emergency, at the aforementioned time, was 80% controlled. There were 280 units present at the scene attending to the situation.
‘I saw how the pieces of flame fell’: powder factory worker
Angie Nataly, a powder factory worker who was injured, said she was with one of her colleagues when they heard the noise.
“My partner screamed and ran. I also ran and saw how the pieces of flame were falling to the sides. I got scared and kept running. I was almost reaching the South Highway, I touched my neck and blood was coming out.” , expressed for Citytv.
The woman joined the company three months ago: “You know that you are working on something risky and that you have to be careful, but you can’t imagine that something like this is going to happen.”
News in development, expect expansion soon…
