23 June, 2017
The victims - two Colombians and a Frenchwoman - perished when a device exploded in a ladies' restroom in the crowded Andino shopping center in Bogota on Saturday.
Police said the device was placed in a toilet bowl in the second-floor restroom.
"If this (bombing) is that kind of gesture, then rest assured that we will pursue those enemies of peace without rest and without quarter", he said, speaking at the site of the blast.
"The young woman (dead) is a 23-year-old French girl", Peñalosa said, and indicated that she was providing social service at a Bogota school.
Michael Montoya, who works in a pastry shop on the third floor, told AFP that "we were tending to customers and we heard an explosion on the second floor". A explosion rocked the mall, one of the busiest in Colombia's capital, killing at least one woman and injuring 11 others according to authorities. Bomb squad specialists combed the area for additional devices.
President Juan Manuel Santos said there were "no clear indications" who was behind the explosion, emphasizing that those responsible would be captured and held accountable.
"Terrorists are not going to change our ways", Santos said, urging Colombians to continue their normal lives and enjoy the Father's Day holiday, though he did not identify who could be behind Saturday's attack.
"Bogotanos should feel safe and protected". We will not let our guard down but we must not panic. "That's what terrorists want".
The president orders inquiry into incident in commercial center in Bogota where security has improved over the past decade. At one time all bags were checked at the entrance to shopping malls, but that has been vastly scaled back in recent years.
Sniffer dogs still check cars at parking facilities in the capital.
Bomb attacks in South America have not ceased even after Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the country's biggest guerrilla group, signed a peace treaty in 2016, which gave people high hopes that peace will finally be restored.
No group has claimed responsibility for the incident.
"We ask for seriousness from people making unfounded and reckless accusations", ELN negotiators at peace talks taking place in neighboring Ecuador said on Twitter.
Another possible suspect is the Gulf Clan, a group of former right-wing paramilitary fighters who are now involved in drug-trafficking.
