The death toll from an explosives attack on a highway in southwestern Colombia rose to 19 on Sunday (April 26), authorities said, as the government blamed a dissident faction of the former FARC guerrilla group for the bombing.

The blast on the Pan-American Highway in the Cajibio municipality also injured 38 people, including five minors, and destroyed dozens of vehicles on the road linking Popayan and Cali. Rebels detonated a powerful explosive device planted on the highway, leaving a crater, military and police authorities said.

Video from the scene shows machinery clearing debris and damaged vehicles, as onlookers and emergency workers gather around the crater.

Truck driver Miguel Angel Mosqueda, who was on the road when the attack occurred, described the moment of the blast. "What I saw was people screaming and crying everywhere. This looked like the end of the world," he said.

Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez blamed the Estado Mayor Central, a FARC dissident faction that rejected a 2016 peace deal, as the attack came just weeks ahead of presidential elections.

Between Friday and Saturday, 26 attacks occurred in Cauca and Valle areas, including two car bomb attacks on military installations in Cali and Palmira.

Cauca is a strategic region for cocaine production and trafficking, as well as illegal gold mining, both key funding sources for armed groups.

Production: Jair Coll, Andrea Rodriguez/Reuters