Blasts at Bolivian military base kill at least 10, injure dozens

Authorities say seven people are still missing after deadly explosions at a facility storing pyrotechnic material.

Firefighters, police officers and military personnel at the site of an explosion at an army barracks in Viacha on September 4, 2026 [AFP]

Two explosions at a military facility in the Bolivian city of Viacha have killed at least 10 people and injured dozens of others, authorities said.

The blasts occurred on Friday in an area used to store pyrotechnic material, about 30km (18 miles) from the administrative capital, La Paz, Bolivia’s Ministry of Defence said.

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Viacha health director Rita Nebraska told a local television station that between 10 and 15 people were believed to have been killed and 62 others were injured.

She said 14 of the wounded were transferred to hospitals in La Paz, including a girl with third-degree burns.

Fireworks were stored at the military facility, but the cause of the explosions remains under investigation, police spokesman Roger Roca said. He added that seven people were still missing.

Firefighters warned that a heat source remained at the site, Nebraska said, urging residents to stay at least 150 metres away because of the risk of another explosion.

Military personnel evacuating civilians near the site of an explosion at an army barracks in Viacha [AFP]

Police said dozens of nearby homes were damaged and that many civilians were injured by shattered glass.

About 50 civilians and six military personnel injured in the explosions “have been treated … by the different medical centres of Viacha”, Deputy Minister of Defence Ernesto Justiniano Urenda said in a statement.

An investigation is under way to determine the cause of the explosions, how the pyrotechnic material was stored and whether anyone was responsible, he added.

Footage posted on social media showed one of the explosions shattering windows in nearby buildings and sending debris into the air as thick black smoke rose from the facility.

当局称，一处储存烟火材料的设施发生致​​命爆炸后，仍有7人失踪。

2026年9月4日，消防员、警察和军人在维亚沙一处军营爆炸现场。[法新社]

当局称，玻利维亚维亚查市一处军事设施发生两起爆炸，造成至少 10 人死亡，数十人受伤。

玻利维亚国防部表示，爆炸发生在周五，地点位于距离行政首都拉巴斯约 30 公里（18 英里）的烟火材料储存区。

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她说，14名伤者被送往拉巴斯的医院，其中包括一名三度烧伤的女孩。

警方发言人罗杰·罗卡表示，爆炸原因仍在调查中，爆炸物被存放在军事设施内。他还补充说，目前仍有七人失踪。

内布拉斯加州表示，消防员警告称现场仍有热源，并敦促居民远离至少 150 米，因为存在再次爆炸的风险。

军方人员正在维亚查一处军营爆炸现场附近疏散平民 [法新社]

警方称，附近数十户民宅受损，许多平民被碎玻璃划伤。

国防部副部长埃内斯托·胡斯蒂尼亚诺·乌伦达在一份声明中表示，爆炸中受伤的约 50 名平民和 6 名军人“已在维亚查的不同医疗中心接受治疗”。

他补充说，目前正在进行调查，以确定爆炸原因、烟火材料的储存方式以及是否有人对此负责。

社交媒体上发布的视频显示，其中一次爆炸震碎了附近建筑物的窗户，并将碎片抛向空中，同时浓浓的黑烟从该设施升起。