Medellin prosecution investigators on Thursday confirmed that 65 people were murdered in the city during this year’s flower festival.
Of the 81 violent deaths that were registered during the Feria de las Flores earlier this month, 65 were homicides, Jose Ivan Gomez, director of the regional department of Medicina Legal, told RCN Radio.
Medellin mayor Alonzo Salazar earlier denied reports about the number of murders, claiming the figure had been inflated.
According to the Medicina Legal director, there is no need for controversy but it is imperative to continue working to improve the city’s crime rate.
The capital of the Antioquia department has seen its murder rate soar since the beginning of 2009. The National Police have sent 1,300 police officers to the city to end the wave of crime. So far this year, more people have been murdered than in the whole of 2008.