Rescue workers recovered 46 bodies after a warehouse containing mining explosives blew up in northeastern Myanmar. Six children and three Chinese nationals were among those confirmed dead, while 74 injured people were transported to Namhkam General Hospital. Searches were due to continue after nightfall interrupted work at the devastated site.
The explosion happened at approximately noon in Kaungtup village, Namhkam Township, roughly three kilometres from China. Another supplied report spells the village Kaung Tat. Both accounts place the same disaster in Shan State and describe a huge crater surrounded by broken buildings, scattered debris and damaged trees.
Fatality estimates differed during the first hours. Some independent Myanmar outlets placed the toll between 50 and 55, and one source previously told the BBC that at least 55 had died. A rescuer gave another estimate of about 40. The count of 46 recovered bodies was the clearest documented figure available by Sunday evening, so it is used here as the confirmed minimum rather than adopting a larger preliminary number.
The Ta’ang National Liberation Army controls the area and said the building held gelignite managed by its economic department for mines and stone quarries. According to the group, the explosive material ignited accidentally. It opened an inquiry into the cause, meaning the immediate trigger and any failures in storage practice had not yet been established. Gelignite is commonly used to break rock and may become dangerously unstable as it ages or when conditions are poor.
Residential destruction spread beyond the storage building. One account said more than 100 houses near the origin were damaged. The BBC’s reporting, based on local information, gave a wider assessment of about 200 homes in Kaung Tat plus 100 in nearby Pan Lone. Residents initially wondered whether an air attack had occurred because the detonation was so powerful. The evidence instead pointed toward the stored commercial explosives.
The TNLA is an ethnic armed organisation and a member of the Three Brotherhood Alliance. It gained control around Namhkam during an offensive begun in late 2023 against Myanmar’s military government. China mediated a ceasefire between the TNLA and the military in October 2025, although relations remained strained. Myanmar’s broader conflict followed the army’s February 2021 seizure of power from the elected administration.
Local authorities were arranging medical treatment, relief and new accommodation for residents whose homes were affected. Beyond finding the ignition source, investigators faced a larger public-safety question: why a substantial explosive stockpile was kept close enough to settled areas to destroy so many houses and cause mass casualties. The investigation therefore concerned both accident causation and the consequences of locating the store among civilian homes.
