The DAS Building bombing was a truck bomb attack in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, at 7:30 am on December 6, 1989, targeting the

Administrative Department of Security The Administrative Department of Security (, DAS) was the security service agency of Colombia, which was also responsible for border and immigration services. It was dissolved on 31 October 2011 as part of a wider Executive Reform, and was replac ...

(DAS) headquarters. A

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construct ...

parked near the building exploded, killing 57 people instantly and injuring 2,248. The bomb blast, an estimated 9.000 kg of

dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern German ...

, 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. It is widely believed that the Medellín Cartel was responsible for the attack, in an attempt to assassinate DAS director

Miguel Maza Márquez General Miguel Alfredo Maza Márquez (born 1942 in Santa Marta, Magdalena) is a retired Colombian general, who was director of the Administrative Department of Security (DAS) from 1985 to 1991. On May 30, 1989, a bombing attempt on his life ...

, who escaped unharmed. The same group was believed to be behind the bombing of Avianca Flight 203 9 days before. 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.

References

{{Colombia conflict 1989 murders in Colombia 20th century in Bogotá 20th-century mass murder in Colombia 1989 building bombings Building bombings in Colombia Car and truck bombings in Colombia Attacks on government buildings and structures in Colombia 1989 in politics December 1989 in South America Failed assassination attempts in South America Car and truck bombings in the 1980s Mass murder in 1989 Mass murder in Bogotá Medellín Cartel Organized crime events in Colombia Terrorist incidents in Bogotá Terrorist incidents in Colombia in the 1980s Military history of Bogotá Attacks on headquarters