The southwestern city of Tumaco was reconnected to Colombia’s electricity grid Saturday, 16 days after a series of FARC attacks on energy pylons disconnected the town.
According to the local energy company, repairmen were able to reestablish electricity. The repairs cost the lives of five people and injured another six and FARC rebels planted minefields around the destroyed pylons and attacked troops who were protecting workers.
Additionally, according to the Tumaco Mayor’s Office, the 16 days without electricity cost the city and its inhabitants more than $1.3 million.
Tumaco is one of Colombia’s hardest hit municipalities by drug trafficking-related violence because of its strategic location bordering both the Pacific ocean and the Ecuadorean border.
