Six people were killed and five injured in a Sunday stampede triggered when police raided a crowded bar in the Colombian capital Bogota, officials say.
Police responded to reports of a brawl at around 4:00 PM local time. Then, witnesses claim, police responded by throwing tear gas and rampaging through the bar,
according to the BBC.
Bar owner Luz Marina Pena said police threw the gas after they were unable to gain access to the building because the doors were locked.
"They began pounding down on the door and throwing tear gas below," she told reporters. "They came in like animals, hitting people, clashing with the doorman. People began to choke. I opened the door for people to leave and police would not let them."
"There must be an investigation as to how this gas came to be inside this place and that's why the attorney general's office is involved," Bogota Police Chief Luis Eduardo Martinez said.
Two officers have reportedly been suspended as part of the case, the BBC reported.
In a Twitter post, Bogota Mayor Gustavo Petro criticized the police team's tactics.
"It cannot be that a police intervention kills more people than if they had not intervened," he wrote. "The problem lies in the methods of intervention."
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.