Cali explosion

The Cali Explosion occurred on August 7, 1956 in downtown Cali, Colombia. It was caused by the explosion of seven army ammunition trucks loaded with 1053 boxes of dynamite, which were parked in Cali overnight. This explosion is the first to occur from non-nuclear sources, and it is the first unnatural catastrophic tragedy in Colombia. In 1956, the city of Cali had just 120,000 inhabitants, 1,000 of whom died from the explosion, and another 12,000 more were wounded.

Events
Seven army trucks, loaded with 1053 boxes of dynamite, came from the city of Buenaventura and were parked in an old railway station. The resulting explosion occurred in the early hours of the morning - destroying 41 blocks and leaving a crater 50 meters wide and 25 meters deep. The blast destroyed buildings, homes and existing businesses, and killed about 4,000 people, injuring 12,000 of them. Six districts were affected: San Nicolás, El Porvenir, El Hoyo, Pilot, Fatima and JorgeIsaccs.

The blast caused an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.3 on the Richter scale. The noise was heard in cities as far as Buga, Palmira, Santander de Quilichao, Caloto and Jamundí. The cause of the explosion is unknown, but suggestions include the trucks overheating or a soldier accidentally firing his gun.

This incident occurred while Gustavo Rojas Pinilla was the president. He attributed the origin of the tragedy to the opposition, who had recently signed the covenant Benidorm.

Reactions
Shortly after the tragedy, in the early hours of the morning, the priest Alfonso Hurtado Galvis was the first to intervene. He said of the incident: "the mushroom cloud left by the explosion resembled that formed by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but smaller in proportion ... mutilated body parts including legs, arms, torsos could be seen. The scene was horrific.. dead and wounded everywhere."

In the central cemetery 3725 skulls and body parts were buried in a mass grave. An iron cross nearby streets 25 and 26 was erected to remember the incident.

Following the tragedy, local Colombian organizations such as the Red Cross, the Sendas organization (Department of Social Welfare and Child Protection, today called the ICBF, Colombian Institute of Family Welfare), the Boy Scouts groups and the sisters of charity and clergy offered help. Countries like the Vatican, headed by the then Pope Pius XII, the former Soviet Union (now Russian Federation), the United States, Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Japan, China and the European continent sympathised with the victims of Cali.