Viacha risk director: “We did find a considerable amount of fireworks”

A nearly 60-centimeter-thick stone wall helped prevent the explosions at the Bolívar regiment in Viacha from causing an even greater disaster, according to municipal risk director Marco Martínez. Three days after the tragedy, however, officials still do not know what caused the blasts.

Martínez confirmed that cleanup crews found a considerable amount of fireworks at the site. The material included “matasuegras,” firecrackers and other explosives normally used during celebrations. He said the material was likely part of a seizure carried out by the Army, but finding it does not establish that fireworks alone caused the scale of the disaster.

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It is correct to say that, in the area, once we had carried out the cleanup with machinery, we did find a considerable amount of fireworks.

Firefighters, the Special Force to Fight Crime, prosecutors, the Army and the municipal government are collecting evidence and determining the cause. The explosions have so far killed seven people and injured more than 80.

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The firefighters, the Special Force to Fight Crime, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Army and the municipal government are determining the causes through a meticulous collection of evidence.

The level of high risk at the site, which remained in place until Saturday, has been reduced by half. Martínez said the presence of military units in the middle of Viacha’s urban area still poses a risk because they store military material.

He called for officials to identify where those storage areas are and assess their condition. The structure holding the material at the Bolívar regiment had stone walls almost 60 centimeters thick, which absorbed some of the impact. Martínez said the other military units should now undergo inspections to assess how their weapons and other military materials are stored.

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The wall where the material was stored was almost 60 centimeters thick and made of stone, which softened the impact.