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Coal train attacked with explosives (Cerrejon / la Guajira)

http://www.supplychainlogisticsnews.net/storyview.asp?storyid=198020&s...

Terrorists attack train

Angie Bahr
Wednesday, 28 May 2008

TERRORISTS attacked a train carrying coal from a BHP Billiton, Anglo American and Xstrata mine yesterday morning in Colombia.

The train was on its way from the Cerrejon opencut mine to the Puerto Bolivar port when a bomb attack derailed the train.

“Cerrejon Coal Limited views this deplorable act as not only an attack on the wellbeing and development of La Guajira, but also on that of Colombia," the company said in a statement yesterday.

No one was hurt during the attack but damage to the train and railroad is still being evaluated.

The company said coal transport is expected to be back up and running in a few days and shipments would not be disrupted.

Typically the coal is transported 150km from the mine to the export terminal with trains of up to 130 coal cars. An average of seven trains are dispatched every day for the 12-hour round trip.

The Cerrejon mine, located in the northern tip of Colombia, expects to produce 31 million tonnes of coal this year. The mine is equally owned by BHP Billiton, Anglo American and Xstrata.

By pedro on May 29, 2008, 16:30 in Politics & the war.

pedro says on May 29, 2008, 16:32:

bump

que nota!

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robi666 says on May 29, 2008, 21:26:

No secrets that Drummond, BP and co. were paying off both Guerrillas and Paramilitaries in the past.
AUC used to escort those coal trains in its golden age.

This looks like a Guerrilla attack.

"I am a citizen of the most beautiful nation on earth. A nation whose laws are harsh yet simple, a nation that never cheats, which is immense and without borders, where life is lived in the present."

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hongo_joe says on May 30, 2008, 08:52:

Five electrical transmission towers were blown up in La Guajira yesterday - the third terrorist attack there this month. Authorities are blaming farc, although the attacks were apparently in a (former?:) paramilitary controlled area.

http://www.elheraldo.com.co/ELHERALDO/BancoConocimiento/R/rederribadas...

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robi666 says on May 30, 2008, 10:28:

Paramilitaries don't blow transmission towers.
The Mellizos are gone... so the FARC is trying to get back.

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ColombianoGringo (Moderator) says on May 30, 2008, 10:31:

I've always thought that blowing electrical towers was the dumbest and most cowardly act that these imbeciles ever perpetrate. I guess being a nuisance to the very people they are supposedly fighting for is heroic to these farc idiots.

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tejasmarcos says on May 30, 2008, 17:58:

they must have a motive.

trying to walk a straight line on sour mash and cheap wine...

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Robert Jorge says on May 30, 2008, 21:24:

ColombianoGringo - I agree that knocking out electrical towers is pretty dumb and cowardly. But nothing is below the FARC. They tried to blow up a dam near Bogota a few years ago. If that attempt had worked, it would have wiped out Villavicencio and other towns, and 7 million Rolos wouldn't have water.

He who farts in church, sits in his own pew.

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vladimiro says on Jun 1, 2008, 09:59:

I think many companies in Colombia are required to pay a tax or vacuna to FARC or other regional warlords to transport goods/do business in their fiefdoms. Some of these types of attacks may be related to this. I know a truck driver, for instance, that drives practically everywhere in Colombia(and Venezuela) without any problems because his company gives vacuna to the warlords.

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el flaco says on Jun 2, 2008, 01:56:

What a small world, I met the manager of the mine and his charming wife, both Colombians, at Miami airport on the way to Barranquilla.

The mine is a guarded camp including accommodation in the middle of nowhere.

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