AMERICA/COLOMBIA - The lives of children are at risk: landmines in 31 departments out of 32

Bogota (Agenzia Fides) - In 2012, 13 children died in Colombia and 52 others were injured as a result of landmines. According to a document of the Presidential Program for Integral Action against Landmines, in 2012 12 boys and one girl died, among the injured 20 girls and 32 boys. The statistics from 1990 to 2012 show that the departments where there is the greatest number of children and adolescents, victims of this scourge are those of Antioquia, Cauca and Nariño, on the border with Ecuador. The latest victims were three children who on January 13 in the municipality of Briceño. One of them died, the other two were taken to a hospital in the city of Medellín by army soldiers. Between 1990 and 2012, in Colombia, the total number of deaths was 10,160, of whom 3,877 civilians and 6,283 of the public forces. The Latin American country is the second largest in the world, after Afghanistan, for landmines which were scattered in 31 of the 32 civilian departments of Colombia. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 21/01/2013)