A pair of explosions tore through a Bolivian military facility in Viacha, a town about 20 miles from La Paz, on Friday afternoon, killing at least 10 people and injuring dozens more in one of the country’s deadliest peacetime military accidents in years.
What happened at the RAM-2 ‘Bolivar’ facility
The blasts hit the RAM-2 “Bolivar” General Maintenance Centre at around 2:30 p.m. local time, according to Bolivia’s Defense Ministry. Officials said the first explosion involved black powder from pyrotechnic material being stored at the site, while the cause of the second and considerably larger blast is still under investigation. Defense Minister Ernesto Justiniano confirmed the death toll and said the ministry was still working to account for people reported missing, with injury estimates from different outlets ranging as high as 81.
The obvious question nobody’s answered yet
Storing pyrotechnic material at a military maintenance facility isn’t inherently reckless, but a second, larger blast following the first one is exactly the kind of failure that safety protocols are supposed to prevent. Bolivian investigators say they’re looking into how the material ended up there, whether existing safety rules were followed, and whether anyone is criminally responsible. Common sense suggests the answer to at least one of those questions is already visible: whatever protocol existed didn’t stop a first, smaller explosion from triggering a second, much bigger one.
Viacha residents described hearing the blasts from miles away, and emergency crews spent Friday evening pulling survivors from damaged buildings on the base. Bolivia’s government has not yet said whether the incident will change how the country stores ordnance and pyrotechnic material at other military sites, a question that’s likely to get louder as the investigation continues.
Sources: Al Jazeera · Reuters via Business Recorder
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