FLAMES devour ‘aid truck’ during bridge stand-off on Venezuela-Colombia border (PHOTOS)
A truck full of US-provided ‘humanitarian aid’ burned out on a bridge connecting Colombia and Venezuela after some of the country's opposition activists clashed with security guards blocking the bridge.
The vehicle is one of several pieces of property damaged on Saturday during clashes on the border, over the opposition’s attempt to force delivery across the bridge of the American supplies, in defiance of Caracas. The Maduro government rejected the ‘aid,’ calling it a publicity stunt meant to bolster the opposition.
The Francisco de Paula Santander bridge, the northernmost of the three that cross the Tachira River separating the two countries, was one of the scenes of violent confrontation between opposition forces trying to make way for the trucks and the National Guard forces ordered to stop them.
Three trucks were driven onto the bridge from the Colombian side and across the border river, according to images from the scene. Opposition activists intended to unload the crates, according to some reports, but a clash with Venezuelan troops prevented them.
#ÚLTIMAHORA: Dos camiones con ayuda humanitaria se encuentran en llamas en el puente Francisco de Paula Santander en la frontera de #Colombia y #Venezuela. 📷: @WCKitchenpic.twitter.com/16uaaNpllV
— Alberto Pimienta (@apimientaDC) February 23, 2019
Somehow amid the confrontation one of the vehicles caught fire, although it was not immediately clear if this was accidental or intentional.
Reporter says Venezuela’s national police threw tear gas and several trucks carrying humanitarian aid meant to help Venezuelans caught fire pic.twitter.com/s10UrbGpcc
— Joel Franco (@OfficialJoelF) February 23, 2019
The opposition later salvaged what they could, unloading the cargo from a second truck, which was stopped meters away from the one that caught fire.
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