It resembled a well-planned terrorist attack, wiping out several city blocks and killing at least 1,100 residents of Cali, Colombia. But the chain-reaction explosion of seven ammunition trucks on Aug. 7, 1956 was never proven to be anything but an unforeseen disaster.

The National Army trucks, loaded with 42 tons of dynamite and gasoline, exploded just after midnight, leveling an estimated 2,000 buildings in downtown Cali. Four thousand people were injured.

One theory floated after the Cali disaster was that one or more of the parked trucks had overheated, causing the dynamite to explode.

A blast survivor commented that, “It was as if the cemetery had jumped into the air.”

It’s unthinkable that any vehicle loaded with explosives would be left parked in the downtown area of any major city today for any innocent purpose. And any other motivation for doing so is enough to send a shiver down anyone’s spine.

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