A soldier and a policeman drowned Monday when the truck they were riding in crashed into a river in the southeastern part of Colombia, according to news reports.
The driver of the truck lost control of the vehicle, which then veered off the road and smashed into the Orteguaza River, near the city of Florencia in the department of Caqueta, Caracol Radio reported.
Killed in the crash were soldier Yesid Tovar, escort commander of the army’s 12th Brigade, and Henry Silvera, a safety equipment officer. Four other members of the security forces managed to escape uninjured from the submerged truck.
The soldiers were part of a convoy escorting the commander of the army’s 12th Brigade, along with the police commander and governor of Caqueta. The convoy was returning to Florencia after holding a security meeting in the town of La Montanita, where four people were killed during a guerilla ambush earlier in the day. A pregnant woman and her companion were among those killed in the attack.