MEXICO CITY, April 26. /TASS/. The death toll from the blast on the Pan-American Highway in Colombia’s southwestern Cauca department has reached 20, governor Octavio Guzman said.

"As of now, twenty civilians - 15 women and five men - have reportedly died. Thirty-six people were injured. Three of them are still in an intensive care unit," he wrote on his X page.

He slammed the April 25 terror attacks as "the most brutal and ruthless attack on civilians in the past decades" in Cauca. A three-day mourning has been declared in the region.

The blast seriously damaged the road surface on the Pan-American Highway, with a crater measuring approximately 200 cubic meters emerging at the scene. Traffic is expected to resume within six hours.

The Caracol media outlet reported earlier, citing Colombia’s military command, that the series of terror attacks is blamed on the Jaime Martinez group consisting of former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia rebel organization who refused to abide by the 2016 peace agreement with the government.