Bolivia Military Base Blast Kills at Least 10, Injures 62, Investigation Ordered

Two explosions ripped through a Bolivian army base in Viacha on Friday, killing at least 10 people, injuring 62, and leaving seven still missing as of Saturday, according to Bolivia's Ministry of Defence.

The blasts hit the General Maintenance Center of the RAM-2 "Bolivar" military base at around 2:30 p.m. local time (1830 GMT), roughly 30 kilometers (18-19 miles) from La Paz, Bolivia's administrative capital, according to Reuters and Al Jazeera. Some reports, including one from Yeni Şafak, put the distance at 22 kilometers.

What actually blew up

Defense Minister Ernesto Justiniano told reporters the first blast "involved black powder corresponding to the pyrotechnic material stored in the place," and that this triggered a second, far more powerful detonation, according to Yeni Şafak and the Anadolu Agency (Anews). Justiniano has not said what that second, larger explosive load was, and no source in this reporting answers that question yet.

Viacha health director Rita Nebraska told local television that preliminary military reports put the death toll between 10 and 15, according to The Hindu, Al Jazeera, and 234 Radio. A local hospital took in 62 patients, and 14 of the worst-injured, including a girl with third-degree burns, were transferred to specialized hospitals in La Paz. Ten military personnel were routed to a military hospital, per Anadolu Agency.

The casualty count moved fast, and inconsistently

Anadolu Agency's report is the only one among these sources noting that Justiniano's earlier statement put the toll at just two deaths, 81 injury and seven missing, before later figures rose to 10 or more killed. That's a significant swing in a short window, and it's the kind of detail that gets lost when outlets simply repeat the latest number without flagging how much it moved. Police spokesman Roger Roca told Al Jazeera the cause remains under investigation and confirmed seven people were still unaccounted for as of Friday night.

Defense Minister Ernesto Justiniano said in a statement that about 50 civilians and six military personnel were treated at medical centers in Viacha. Police said dozens of nearby homes were damaged, mostly from shattered windows, and that many of the injured were civilians hit by flying glass, not military personnel at the blast site itself.

Still a live hazard

Firefighters warned a heat source remained active at the site after the blasts, according to Nebraska, and residents were told to stay at least 150 meters back over fears of another explosion. The Viacha municipal government said the blast zone left hazardous ordnance exposed across a one-kilometer radius, a detail reported by Anadolu Agency that underscores this isn't a cleaned-up scene yet.

The political response

President Rodrigo Paz called for a "thorough and transparent" investigation and said his government would not "speculate or rush to conclusions" about who's responsible, according to Anadolu Agency. Viacha's municipal government declared three days of mourning. Bolivia's defense ministry has not yet explained why fireworks-grade pyrotechnic material was being stored at a military maintenance facility in a way that allowed a secondary detonation big enough to shatter windows across a populated town.

Paz took office amid broader turmoil this year, having already fired his economy minister amid unrest and overseen the arrest of a political adviser, according to Al Jazeera's related coverage. A deadly, unexplained explosion at a military installation lands on a government that's already managing multiple crises at once.

What's unresolved

No cause has been confirmed for the initial ignition. No one has said whether negligence, improper storage protocols, or something else triggered the black powder. Seven people remain missing. The next concrete marker will be whether Bolivia's investigation, which Paz has publicly committed to, produces a specific finding on how pyrotechnic material at a military base ended up detonating with enough force to injure dozens of civilians who had nothing to do with the base itself.