DAS Building bombing

4°36′55″N 74°05′12″W / 4.615231°N 74.086708°W / 4.615231; -74.086708

DAS Building bombing
LocationBogotá, Colombia
DateDecember 6, 1989
7:30 a.m. (COT)
TargetAdministrative Department of Security (DAS)
Attack type
Truck bombing
Attempted assassination
WeaponsDynamite modified time bomb
Deaths63
Injured~2,248
MotiveAttempt to assassinate Miguel Maza Márquez

The DAS Building bombing was a truck bomb attack in Bogotá, Colombia, at 7:30 am on December 6, 1989, targeting the Administrative Department of Security (DAS) headquarters.

A truck parked near the building exploded, killing 57 people instantly and injuring 2,248.[1][2] The bomb blast, an estimated 500 kg of dynamite, destroyed 14 city blocks and destroyed more than 300 commercial properties. The last victim of the bombing died on April 27 1990. It was the deadliest car bomb attack in Latin America before being succeeded by the AMIA bombing 5 years later. [3] It is widely believed that the Medellín Cartel was responsible for the attack, in an attempt to assassinate DAS director Miguel Maza Márquez, who escaped unharmed. The same group was believed to be behind the bombing of Avianca Flight 203 9 days before.[4][5]

The DAS building bombing was the last in the long series of attacks that targeted Colombian politicians, officials, and journalists in 1989, which started with the January 18 killing of 12 judicial officials in Simacota.[6]

  1. ^ "Señalan responsables de atentado al DAS". El Tiempo (Colombia). August 2, 1994. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
  2. ^ "Colombia Cartels Tied To Bombing". The New York Times. Associated Press. December 8, 1989. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  3. ^ "Colombia Truck Bomb Kills 35, Many Injured in Blast". Miami Herald. December 7, 1989.
  4. ^ McFadden, Robert D. (20 December 1994). "Drug Trafficker Convicted of Blowing up Jetliner". The New York Times.
  5. ^ "Man Who Bombed Avianca Flight Sentenced to Life". Associated Press.
  6. ^ Osoria Granados, Marcela (18 January 2014). "1989: año para tener en la memoria". El Espectador (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 January 2017.