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Hundreds pay homage to Colombia blast victims
BOGOTA, Colombia (CNN) -- Hundreds of people gathered Sunday in the capital's largest park for a Mass and march in homage to the victims of a bombing, blamed by officials on a leftist rebel group. A number of political figures, including Bogota's mayor, joined the crowd to protest Friday night's blast at a social club, which killed at least 32 people, including six children, and wounded more than 200 others. At the request of Colombian officials, representatives of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms arrived Saturday night to investigate the blast, which Colombian authorities said bore similarities to the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, which killed 168 people. Meanwhile, recovery workers resumed digging through the rubble for more bodies. Two survivors were found Saturday, but officials held out little hope that anyone else would be recovered alive. While there was no immediate claim of responsibility, Vice President Francisco Santos said the blast was the work of FARC, an acronym in Spanish for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Bogota Mayor Antanas Mockus said authorities found a large crater in the club's parking garage, which was underneath the El Nogal nightclub, and investigators believe it was caused when an explosives-laden pickup truck detonated about 8 p.m. El Nogal is a multi-story club complex that featured bars, restaurants and recreational facilities. Political leaders in the capital frequented the club, which was near a number of embassies and diplomatic installations. In a statement Saturday, President Bush said, "I condemn this barbaric act of terrorism." Bush said the United States "will offer all appropriate assistance to the Colombian government in bringing to justice the murderers responsible for this act." Colombian President Alvaro Uribe appealed to nations bordering Colombia to seal their borders to the rebels. "The country suffers once again a terrible web of terrorism by these groups," Uribe said, expressing his solidarity with the victims and their families. Marxist rebels have recently stepped up their 35-year-old war -- mostly fought in the countryside -- in Colombia's largest cities. Uribe offered an $180,000 reward for information about who was behind the suspected terror attack. He pleaded to the international community to support Colombia's war on terrorism. Journalists Fernando Ramos and Adriana Vargas contributed to this report.
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