Three young people aged 15 to 17 walked into a minefield near their northwest Colombia village, leaving one dead and two wounded, reported local media Monday.
Diomedes Chavarria, a young man of 15, was killed instantly as he stepped on the anti-personnel mine in Briceño municipality in northern Antioquia, according to local media. Two others, described by El Colombiano as cousins of Chavarria, were wounded and are in hospital.
The group of three had been taking a shortcut on the way home when they walked into the minefield, which as been attributed to the 36th Front of the FARC left-wing guerrilla force.
The army conducted a rescue operation to recover the body and the wounded from the minefield.
Colombia’s armed conflict has left it the second-most afflicted by landmines in the world after Afghanistan. The government reported in 2012 that the number of child landmine victims rose sharply last year.
