Bogota, Oct 20 (EFE) Two Colombian teenagers died after soldiers opened fire at them in the northwestern province of Antioquia, in what the soldiers’ commanding officer called a “military error”.
The commander of the army’s 5th Brigade, Gen. Jairo Aponte, told reporters that the incident occurred Saturday night in the town of Yondo.
Aponte said that the teenagers, aged 13 and 15, who were riding a motorcycle, were hit by rifle shots fired by the soldiers, but denied that the latter were under the influence of alcohol.
Witnesses cited in the web edition of El Tiempo newspaper said that two soldiers were arguing over a cigarette and one of them fired a shot in the air, which made the teenagers speed up because they thought they were under attack.
A unit at the other end of the area shot at them. One of the youths died on the spot and the other died in hospital, the newspaper said.
