Bogota’s coroner’s office claimed that the death of six people in a bar in Colombia’s capital city was not caused by police pepper gas which was released into the crowded locked bar.
“The cause of death in these cases no doubt corresponded to acute respiratory failure,” alleged the director of Legal Medicine, Carlos Valdes.
This claim comes after five women and one man were killed and two others were injured early Sunday morning while in a locked and crowded bar named Restrepo. A fight broke out between 4AM and 5AM and the police threw pepper gas into the tight bar resulting in mass chaos.
MORE: 6 killed in south Bogota as police release pepper gas into locked bar
“The cause of death had nothing to do with any type of gas,” continued Valdes, “and forensics revealed that the deaths were homicides, and the cause was respiratory failure.”
The Police Chief of Bogota’s statement did not assert that the gas was unrelated to the fatalities. He stated that a stampede of people broke out within the club and that the police tried to open a door to allow people out.
The Police Chief added that, “they activated a type of gas inside of the club, and people suffocated, which resulted in fatalities,” reported to news website CM&.
There were approximately 300 people inside of the crowded bar, which legally is only allowed to hold 100 according to CM&. There were no emergency exits or evacuation route signs.
The Police Chief is investigating the officers who released the gas into the bar.
MORE: Victims of Bogota bar tragedy named
Sources