Pyrotechnics blast at Viacha barracks kills at least 10 near La Paz

An explosion at a Bolivian army barracks in Viacha on 4 September killed at least 10 people and injured dozens, according to local health officials. The blast went off around 14:30 local time, 18:30 GMT, in a store used for pyrotechnic material at the Centro General de Mantenimiento of artillery regiment RAM-2 Bolívar, about 30 kilometres from La Paz.

Defence Minister Ernesto Justiniano first spoke of injuries and of "pyrotechnic material" detonating. The ministry's early communiqué called the detonation accidental and said the fireworks were part of the Defence Ministry's own inventory. That first note also said there were no dead. Later counts from hospitals overtook it.

The rising toll

Rita Nebraska, Viacha's health director, told Bolivisión that between 10 and 15 people were believed dead and that 62 people were injured. Fourteen of the wounded went to hospitals in La Paz, including a girl with third-degree burns.

José Martín Carrasco, director of the La Paz departmental health service, earlier put the injured at 52, including soldiers, pre-military trainees, police and civilians. He said eight had major injuries and six minors had lacerations on the legs and back.

Police spokesman Roger Roca told AFP that fireworks had been stored at the barracks and that the cause was under investigation. Neighbours described two detonations. The first damaged the entrance. The second was stronger and broke windows in nearby houses. Police said dozens of homes lost glass.

The risk of a second blast

Nebraska said firefighters had warned that a heat source remained on the site and that another explosion was possible. Residents were told to stay at least 150 metres away. Ambulances and police were still working through the rubble on Friday evening.

Viacha's local government declared three days of mourning. The ministry said it had secured the area and opened a technical inquiry. It had not, by Friday night, published how much pyrotechnic stock was in the store, what ignited it, or a figure for material losses.

Why fireworks were in an artillery yard

The ministry's own wording is the most useful fact in the file. The material was not a warhead on a training range. It was fireworks assigned to the Defence Ministry and parked inside a maintenance centre attached to an artillery regiment. That combination, civilian-grade pyrotechnics and a military depot, is what turned a storage fire into a mass-casualty event.

First reports that no one had been hurt were wrong within hours. The gap between the ministry communiqué and the hospital lists is now part of the story. The inquiry will have to explain the ignition, the inventory and why a town 30 kilometres from the seat of government was close enough for a girl to arrive in La Paz with third-degree burns.