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Explosions at Bolivia Army Base Near La Paz Kill Six as Searches Continue

Prosecutors opened manslaughter probes to investigate how confiscated fireworks and pyrotechnic material were stored.

Overview

  • Two successive blasts struck the RAM‑2 “Bolívar” maintenance centre in Viacha on Friday, detonating a section used to store fireworks and pyrotechnic material.
  • Rescue teams have recovered six bodies and treated scores of wounded with more than 80 people reported injured overall while searches go on for the missing.
  • The defence ministry says 11 uniformed personnel remain unaccounted for and that some of the missing are conscripts aged 18 and 19 who were serving mandatory service.
  • Firefighters warned a lingering heat source at the site could trigger further explosions, prompting evacuations, cordons and transfers of serious cases to hospitals in El Alto and La Paz.
  • President Rodrigo Paz ordered a technical inquiry and the Viacha public prosecutor has opened probes into manslaughter and related crimes to determine cause, storage practices and responsibility.