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Car bomb kills 7 in Colombia

MEDELLIN, Colombia (CNN) -- President Andres Pastrana called short a visit to southern Colombia Friday in order to attend a security council meeting after a car bomb attack that killed at least seven people and injured 138.

Police say about 45 pounds of dynamite and a timing device in a Volkswagen Beetle exploded in a crowded park in an upscale district of Medellin. Police have not commented on a motive.

The explosion occurred shortly after 10 p.m. Thursday when bars, restaurants, discotheques in the Parque Lleras are busiest. Police cordoned off the area and began searching the wreckage for evidence.

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Thursdays tend to be party nights in Medellin, Colombia's third-largest city and former power base of the late cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar.

Pastrana and his security council will decide whether to initiate security measures.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

The explosion came less than a day after unidentified gunmen dragged the leader of one of Medellin's top criminal gangs, Ronald de Jesus Arrollave, from his home, handcuffed him and shot him dead.

The gang, known as La Terraza -- The Terrace -- has been locked in a feud with outlaw right-wing paramilitary forces since August.

La Terraza was blamed for a similar car bomb attack in January at a shopping mall in Medellin, near the site of Thursday's bombing.

Two weeks ago, a bomb went off outside a luxury hotel in the southwestern city of Cali, injuring 32 people.

Thursday's attack was the worst car bombing since November 1999 when seven civilians were killed in Bogota.

The bombings raise security concerns ahead of the America Cup soccer tournament that Colombia is to host this summer. The event is expected to bring tens of thousands of people to Cali and Medellin.