Unknown persons have blown up an oil pipeline in the Arauca department in northeastern Colombia. Authorities have declared a state of emergency and have already begun rescue operations, local newspaper Prensa Araucana reported.
The department's authorities have already urged the public to stay away from the site of the explosion and oil spill until rescue operations are completed. “These illegal actions are putting lives at risk, causing serious damage to the environment and harming the Colombian economy,“ oil companies Cenit and Ecopetrol said in a joint statement.