Grenade Blast Injures Eight People

A vintage DC-3 used by Colombian police to search for drug traffickers was split in half by an explosion Wednesday on the ramp at the Medellin Airport, but officials say it was an accident.

The Latin American Herald-Tribune reports a tear gas grenade exploded inside the aircraft as crews were readying the plane tp ferry 27 officers with the Mobile Anti-riot Squadron to the western Choco province. At least eight persons near the plane (similar to type shown above) were injured as the blast rended the aircraft just aft of the wing.

"According to the first medical evaluations, four of the injured, who were taken to the Medellin Policlinica and the Clinica de las Americas in that city, had serious injuries, while the other four only showed symptoms of being dazed," said General Dagoberto Rodriguez, commander of the Medellin police.

The blast briefly shut down operations at the Medellin terminal. The country's anti-drug inspector and director were dispatched to the airport to conduct an investigation.

The incident occurred hours after five Colombian air force officers were killed when their "ghost plane" -- another retrofitted DC-3 -- crashed on a training flight in the central Caldas province.

The DC-3s -- most of them turboprop-converted, former military-spec C-47s -- are used for undercover operations and reconnaissance missions against drug traffickers and rebels.

FMI: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/co.html