It was just about 9pm and I was sitting at my computer when I heard a massive explosion. At first I thought it was thunder from a big storm over downtown. 2 minutes later, I realized it was a bomb. Someone set off a 5 kil bomb at a blockbuster video. The first reports were crazy. I heard Caracol Radio reporting it was the Club Colombia restaurant that was hit. Then, they reported it was the Blockbuster Video. First reports said 20 people were hurt and 2 dead. My phone started ringing. My awsome staff put the emergency plan in motion. I jumped in a taxi and headed to the scene. My producers Camilo and Ana Maria raced there as well. Cami was already in bed when he heard the news. He jumped out in his pijamas, got dressed, and drove over with his digital camera. Ana Maria was awsome. She lives close by and ran out the door with her blackberry and a notepad. At RCN, my Producers Alejo and Oliver were on it. Alejo called me to let me know he was sending a camera and discs to record on. Oliver went to the edit supervisor and got additional time for us to put together breaking news.
WHen I arrived on the scene, it was chaos. People were everywhere. Nearby apartment buildings had their glass windows blown out. Police officers were stringing yellow tape for miles. I finally found Ana Maria and the crew. They were shooting great tape. Camilo came up from the other side of the crime scene with video on his digital camera. We met in the middle of a mob of people and formed a plan. Then, all of the officials showed up. Juan Manuel Santos, Colombia's Minister of Defense was there... along with Bogota Mayor Samuel Moreno. Both were very gracious to give interviews to us in English. I also met Council woman Clara Lopez who gave a great interview. Then, we went off with our crew to find some witnesses. The crew was fantastic. They didnt speak english... and had no idea what I was saying.. but they got my spanglish and gave us great shots.
Meantime, back at RCN, Oliver and Alejo were getting everything ready for my feed. As soon as the Network was done with their live shot, it was our turn to feed tape to contributiones. I got in front of the camera, said what I knew as fact, and tossed to some soundbytes. Alejo was taking the feed while Oliver was in editing.
With the help of Freddy and Narcicso, our expert editors, Oliver was able to turn around a special report in 10 minutes. Im so proud of my team. Everything worked the way it should have worked. All of them did a great job in helping us get the news online as quickly as possible.
We all left the scene about 12am. Ana and Cami have to be in at 7am to produce the morning news. Alejo and Oliver will be back at 12pm.
Way to go RCN News in English... You did a great job getting our first Bogota Bomb on the air!
