By Ingrid "Shortwave" Frost
The first blast came without warning at a military barracks in Viacha, Bolivia, a town just outside La Paz. By the time rescue crews finished counting, at least ten people were dead and dozens more injured, according to Bolivian authorities.
Officials say the explosions originated at a facility used to store pyrotechnic material — the kind of installation meant to be inert until it isn't. Seven people remain missing as of Friday, and authorities have warned residents to stay clear of the site, citing the risk of further blasts.
Details on how the fire or explosion started have not been made public. Bolivian officials have not yet said whether the incident is being treated as an accident or something else, and no single account of the sequence of events has been confirmed independently.
The death toll — reported at ten and rising in the latest accounts — is likely to grow. Dozens of injured remain in area hospitals, and search teams are still working through the wreckage for the missing seven.
Military barracks explosions are rare enough in Bolivia to draw immediate national attention, and the government has offered little explanation so far beyond confirming the casualty figures. What is clear: a stockpile of pyrotechnic material sat inside a facility meant to be secure, and it went off with lethal force. The question of why, and who bears responsibility, has not yet been answered — and residents near Viacha have been told, in the meantime, simply to keep their distance.
— Compiled from reporting by Al Jazeera and BBC World.
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