Car bomb rocks Medellin

A 1999 car bomb: Medellin is no stranger to violence

At least one person has been killed and 50 wounded in a car bomb explosion in the north-west Colombian city of Medellin.

The blast happened near an escalator in the car park of the city's exclusive El Tesoro shopping centre during evening rush hour, sending debris and shrapnel up a stairwell.

I saw flames, a lot, a lot of flames, and people who didn't know what to do and lots of people who were hurt in the car park

Eyewitness

Television pictures showed firefighters and police assisting the wounded, eight of whom are in a critical condition, amid wrecked and blazing cars.

The authorities suspect a bomb planted by one of the country's left-wing rebel movements, but no group has said it was responsible for the attack.

Urban violence

"I saw flames, a lot, a lot of flames, and people who didn't know what to do and lots of people who were hurt in the car park," one eyewitness said.

This was a terrorist attack... there were a lot of explosives

Fire officer Leoncio Velez

A pregnant woman and a nine-month-old baby were among the injured.

"We haven't seen anything this dreadful for months. Just look at how we've started the year," fire official Leoncio Velez told the Reuters news agency.

"This was a terrorist attack... there were a lot of explosives."

Peace process

The BBC's Jeremy McDermott in Medellin says the blast is the latest sign that Colombia's 37-year civil war may be spreading from the countryside to the big cities.

About 35,000 civilians have died over the last decade in the conflict, which pits left-wing guerrilla groups against right-wing paramilitaries and security forces.

Peace talks began two years ago between the largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), and the government, but were broken off two months ago by the guerrillas.

The conflict has since intensified.

But our correspondent says extortion by street gangs who control much of Medellin has not been ruled out either in the latest attack.

Medellin was the focus of a campaign of violence by drug cartel head Pablo Escobar in which he set off car bombs around the city in the late 1980s and early 90s.