Blast kills three varsity students in Colombia

 Three Colombian university students, including a woman, died Sunday when the explosives they were handling went off at a house in Bogota, officials said.

A fourth student and nine neighbors were wounded by the blast, which occurred at a house in the suburb of Suba, the police and the city government said.

"Apparently, they were handling explosive devices ... and, in addition, drinking liquor," Metropolitan Police chief Gen. Luis Eduardo Martinez said.

The victims ranged in age from 19 to 22, the police chief said.
The students were making "explosive potatoes", as the small bombs used in student protests are known, Martinez said, adding that eight to 10 kg of explosives went off.
Police explosives specialists found instructions for making bombs at the house, the police chief said.

The victims were students at the School of Social Sciences of the Francisco Jose de Caldas District University, an institution run by the Bogota city government, Martinez said.
The explosion damaged or destroyed 51 dwellings and 12 vehicles, Bogota emergency services chief Javier Pava said.

Three of the dwellings have been evacuated, Pava said, adding that the affected buildings housed 160 people, including 51 children.