At least six people were arrested for plotting to assassinate Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro using drones packed with explosives, officials said Sunday.
Interior Minister Nestor Luis Reverol called the attempt on Maduro’s life during a televised speech to the military a terrorist attack — and said more people could be detained.
Security officers managed to disable one of the drones flying toward the stage where Maduro was standing with high-ranking officials, Reverol said.The other machine collided with a nearby building and exploded, he said.
Nearby residents told the Associated Press they saw a drone crash into a building and explode blocks from where Maduro was speaking in Caracas.
One of the witnesses — who showed the AP cellphone video of a drone hovering over a residential street two blocks away and then crashing into a building — said the police arrested the machine’s pilot.
Reverol said the 2 pounds of explosives on each drone could have affected an area of more than 160 feet.
Seven members of the country’s national guard were injured, three gravely, officials said.
Venezuela’s defense minister, Vladimir Padrino Lopez, said attackers were trying to take out the government’s entire top leadership along with Maduro.
With Post wires