June 1 - An unexplained blast at a storage site for explosives held by one of Myanmar’s rebel groups has killed at least 55 people and left heavy destruction in Kaung Tat village, residents and media said, as rescue teams continued to search the wreckage for survivors.
The Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) said the detonation occurred around noon on Sunday (0530 GMT) in a statement that acknowledged numerous fatalities but did not provide a precise death toll. Local residents and journalists reported the toll at at least 55, and the search at the blast site remains underway.
The TNLA, which controls the village near the Chinese border and is in a ceasefire with Myanmar’s military, said the explosives had been stored "for use in mining operations." Myanmar’s mineral resources, including rare earths, have become important sources of revenue for both the military-backed government and rebel armies involved in the country’s civil war.
A resident who identified himself as Moe Z described the scene to Reuters. He was travelling on a road about 1-1/2 miles (2.4 km) away when the explosion occurred and said a mushroom cloud of smoke rose into the sky.
"Everything was completely destroyed beyond recognition," Moe Z said.
Moe Z said his group initially suspected an airstrike, but the absence of follow-up detonations led them to consider that a large unexploded bomb or stored munitions might have detonated. "Based on the explosive force and the sound we witnessed, this was no small explosion, it wasn’t the scale of a drone-drop bomb," he said, referring to a tactic that has been used in Myanmar’s civil war.
Arriving at the site roughly an hour after the blast, Moe Z said the immediate priority among those who reached the scene was to locate survivors amid what he described as "human carnage." He reported limbs and bodies scattered around a vast crater where the explosives had been kept. "It’s as if the entire village has just vanished," he added.
A local journalist working at the scene said the force of the detonation had buried some victims under large amounts of rubble and debris, necessitating the use of backhoes to recover bodies and search for survivors. "Over half of the village’s houses have been destroyed. The houses near the centre of the blast were blown completely to pieces, to the point where not even the house posts remain," the journalist said.
In its statement on Sunday the TNLA said it would investigate the incident and hold those responsible to account. The group also pledged to provide relief, healthcare and rehabilitation for those affected, and reiterated that the explosion had caused "the loss of life and injury to many people in Kaung Tat village, and the destruction of many homes."
The TNLA did not respond to a request for comment on Monday. The wider conflict in Myanmar intensified after the military staged a coup in 2021 that ousted the civilian government; the ongoing fighting has placed control of mineral resources and other revenue streams at the center of contestation between the military-backed government and several armed groups.
Search and recovery operations at the blast site continued as authorities and residents worked amid crushed homes and scorched terrain to account for the dead and injured and to locate any survivors. With large sections of the village reduced to rubble and the cause of the detonation still under investigation, local leaders and the TNLA have both signalled that inquiries and relief efforts are under way.
Context note: Information on casualties and the state of recovery efforts comes from resident accounts and local media reports as provided in the TNLA statement and witness testimony. The group acknowledged multiple deaths but did not issue a detailed casualty list.