Over 30 reported killed in Medellín

At least 31 were reported killed in Medellín and its environs in what Caracol television termed the "violent weekend" of 8-10 March, although the broadcaster observed the number of deaths may be 34 as two of the victims were pregnant women and another was declared brain-dead. Police attributed the deaths to incidents relating to extortion, gang fights and drug trafficking. Five of the victims were women including a 16-year-old girl killed in Envigado outside the city, Caracol reported. The victims may also have included a 60-year-old man reported beaten to death by neighbours on the night of 9-10 March, after he sought to rape his seven-year-old step-daughter. The girl's mother alerted neighbours when the man returned home drunk and "sought to sexually abuse" the child, El Espectador reported on 10 March. The weekend victims apparently did not include two men reported shot dead in Medellín late on 11 March or early on 12 March; two children were also injured in gang violence in Medellín on 11-12 March, one being a six-year-old boy accidentally shot in the knee, Caracol television reported.