A section of railroad that connects the largest coal mine in Colombia with the country’s largest port where the fossil fuel is exported was blown up Tuesday, the mining company said in a press release Wednesday.
The attack occurred at about 8 p.m. Tuesday night at kilometer marker 14, approximately 9 miles along the 93 mile railway, according to a statement issued by Cerrejon Company Ltd. The company operates on the railroad and owns the mine located in La Guajira, on the northern coast of Colombia. Authorities do not know who the perpetrators were.
The attack caused “minor damages to the company’s equipment, which are yet to be determined” but there were “no personal injuries to the employees or contractors of Cerrejon,” said the company. The railroad resumed operation at 5 a.m. Wednesday.
The railway runs from the mine to Bolivar Port, where the coal is exported to Europe, North America, and Central and South America.
The company said that this is the 14th time that criminal groups have attacked the Cerrejon Railroad since it started operating three decades ago. The last attack was in 2008.
The company claims that they suffered another attack when armed men who identified themselves as members of the FARC entered the nearby communities of Roche and Remedies on September 23, 2010, and blew up mining equipment.
Cerrejon Company Ltd. is the largest producer of coal in Colombia, with 30.3 million tons of the fossil fuel exported in 2009.
