A devastating explosion at a Bolivian military barracks has left a yet-to-be-confirmed number of people dead and dozens more injured, triggering emergency response operations and official mourning in the Andean nation.
The incident unfolded shortly after 2:30 p.m. local time on Friday at the facility located in Viacha, a town situated roughly 30 kilometers (19 miles) outside Bolivia’s administrative capital, La Paz. The barracks houses an artillery regiment of the Bolivian armed forces.
Initial official statements from Bolivian Defense Minister Ernesto Justiniano confirmed that at least two people had lost their lives, and 58 others suffered injuries in the detonation of pyrotechnic material stored at the site. However, senior health official Rita Nebraska told local Bolivian broadcasters that preliminary on-site assessments put the likely death toll much higher, between 10 and 15 fatalities, indicating authorities are bracing for a rising number of confirmed deaths as search operations continue.
Law enforcement officials confirmed that the blast caused widespread property damage in residential areas surrounding the military base. Dozens of private homes suffered shattered windows and structural damage from the force of the explosion, though no off-base injuries have been reported as of yet.
Emergency response teams including police, firefighters and paramedics have been deployed to the site, where they are currently conducting search-and-rescue operations through collapsed rubble for potential missing survivors. Out of an abundance of caution, Nebraska warned the public that residual unstable material could trigger additional secondary explosions, and urged all civilians to maintain a safe perimeter of at least 150 meters from the barracks grounds.
Police spokesman Roger Roca told Agence France-Presse that the military facility was storing large quantities of fireworks at the time of the blast. Authorities have not yet announced any definitive cause for the initial detonation, and an official investigation into the incident is ongoing.
In the wake of the tragedy, local government authorities in Viacha have declared a three-day period of official mourning to honor the lives lost in the explosion.