Three killed and 84 injured in successive explosions at Bolivian military base

Search teams continued clearing debris at a Bolivian military base on Saturday after two powerful explosions killed three people and injured 84. The blasts struck a facility in Viacha where pyrotechnic materials were stored, but their cause has not been established.

The explosions heavily damaged buildings around the base. Nearby residents reported shattered windows, torn-off roofs and fallen trees as crews worked through the wreckage. Bolivia’s prosecutor’s office said a third body was removed from the debris on Saturday evening.

The base commander, Colonel Antonio Amaru, had earlier said authorities could not locate a sergeant and 13 young people aged 18 to 19 who were performing compulsory military service. The first two people confirmed dead were conscripts. Authorities have not said whether the third body belonged to one of the missing people.

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The cause of the second explosion and which material was involved in it are still being investigated.

The first blast was initially believed to have originated in the storage area. The second explosion was described as much more powerful, but investigators have not determined what triggered it or which material was involved. Defense Minister Ernesto Justiniano said, “The cause of the second explosion and which material was involved in it are still being investigated.”

Relatives of the missing gathered outside the base seeking information. AFP reported that some families tried to cross the security cordon but were stopped by guards. Viacha, a city of about 100,000 people roughly 30 kilometers from La Paz, lacks a hospital equipped to handle an incident of this scale, according to its mayor. Most of the injured were therefore transferred to medical facilities in El Alto and La Paz. A local resident told the media, “The second explosion threw me about 5 meters away.” He said he lost consciousness afterward.

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The second explosion threw me about 5 meters away.