Bogota , Colombia ( CNN ) -- The death toll from a powerful car bomb Wednesday morning in Buenaventura , Colombia , rose to six as the day went on , with at least 42 people wounded , authorities said . The explosion occurred in the town center , near City Hall and the regional attorney general 's office , causing panic and chaos among nearby residents . A local hospital declared a state of emergency , media reported . Images on CNN affiliate Caracol TV showed mangled vehicles , one with an engine next to it on the sidewalk . Buildings also showed significant damage . The TV images also showed residents carrying off wounded people . There were no immediate claims of responsibility or a motive . `` It was a very powerful explosion , '' said Luz Morales , a reporter for Caracol TV who witnessed the blast . After the bomb went off , `` I could n't hear anything , I could n't see anything , '' she told CNN en Español . Gen. Freddy Padilla , commander of Colombia 's armed forces , identified four of Wednesday 's six victims as civilians and one as a policeman . The identity of the sixth was not immediately known . Padilla said he suspects the bomb was planted by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia , or FARC . The Marxist insurgent group has been weakened during the presidency of Alvaro Uribe , but has been fighting the Colombian government for more than 45 years . FARC guerrillas were suspected in a recent incident in Buenaventura in which seven tractor-trailers were set on fire on the main highway connecting the port to the rest of the country . Colombian Deputy Attorney General Guillermo Mendoza said he suspects drug traffickers . `` My first thought is that is an act by drug trafficking groups that operate in this area , '' he said . `` It could be a confrontation between rival drug groups or a retaliation against the regional attorney general 's office . '' The bomb was inside a Mazda 323 hatchback , he said . Buenaventura is Colombia 's largest seaport , handling approximately two-thirds of its international imports and exports . CNN 's Karl Penhaul and Journalist Jorge Asdrubal Garcia Romero contributed to this report .
More than 40 other people wounded Wednesday , in Buenaventura , Colombia . Blast ##s in city center , near City Hall , causing panic among nearby residents . Local hospital declared state of emergency , police reported .