The blast occurred at about 2.30pm local time at the Centro General de Mantenimiento of the RAM-2 “Bolívar” artillery unit, where pyrotechnic material belonging to the Defence Ministry was stored. Officials said the precise cause had not been established and an investigation was under way.
Viacha health director Rita Nebraska said between 10 and 15 people were believed to have died and 62 were injured. Fourteen of the wounded were transferred to hospitals in La Paz, including a girl who suffered third-degree burns, while others were treated at health facilities closer to the scene.
The casualty figures changed repeatedly as emergency crews searched the damaged compound and assessed reports from surrounding neighbourhoods. Police earlier confirmed two deaths, 59 injuries and seven people missing, while preliminary government information had put the number of injured at 58. Authorities did not immediately reconcile the differing totals.
Defence Minister Ernesto Justiniano said most of those initially reported injured were civilians. An early breakdown from his office listed 52 civilians among 58 wounded, underlining the impact of the explosion beyond the military installation.
Firefighters, police, military personnel and ambulance crews were deployed to Viacha as authorities cordoned off the area. Officials warned residents to stay at least 150 metres from the blast site because a heat source remained inside the damaged storage zone, raising concern that additional material could detonate.
The explosion sent a thick column of black smoke above the barracks and shattered windows in nearby homes. Residents reported powerful blasts and damage to buildings around the base, which is located within an urban area of Viacha, about 30 kilometres from La Paz.
The Defence Ministry said the explosion originated in a sector used to store fireworks that formed part of its inventory. Initial military statements described the event as an accidental detonation of pyrotechnic material, although officials later stressed that technical work was still needed to determine exactly what triggered it.
Authorities secured the affected storage area after the explosion and ordered an assessment of the damage to the compound and surrounding structures. Investigators were also expected to examine the quantity and condition of the pyrotechnic material kept at the site and whether storage procedures had been followed.
The first official statements issued soon after the blast said there had been no deaths or injuries inside the installation. Those assessments were overtaken as hospitals, police and municipal health authorities received more information from the scene and from residents affected outside the barracks.
Emergency teams continued searching damaged areas while medical services worked to identify the most seriously injured and arrange transfers. The presence of missing people complicated efforts to establish a definitive death toll, and authorities cautioned that the figures could change as rescue operations progressed.
Viacha lies on the Altiplano west of La Paz and forms part of the wider metropolitan area around Bolivia’s administrative capital. The military facility involved in the explosion is used for maintenance activities linked to the RAM-2 “Bolívar” unit.
Local authorities focused on keeping people away from the cordoned zone as specialists assessed remaining risks from heat and stored explosive material. Damage to neighbouring houses was also being documented while residents waited for clearance to approach affected properties.
Witness accounts gathered by authorities described successive detonations rather than a single isolated blast, with the shock wave felt several blocks from the compound. Debris was thrown into surrounding streets and some residents left their homes while emergency teams assessed structural damage. Officials said the danger zone would remain closed until explosives specialists had checked the storage area for unstable material.
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