The gunpowder workshop known as «Carmen»which is located in the neighborhood «Camilo Ortega»at kilometer 35 of the highway that leads from Las Flores to Catarina, in Masaya, ended up almost reduced to ashes after this Monday morning, a strong explosion was recorded in one of the storage warehouses for rockets made from handmade way
The owners of the gunpowder workshop, identified as Ileana del Carmen Hernández and Daniel Téllez, regretted what happened and said they did not know the origin of the fire that threatened to spread to the other warehouses where the rockets are made, however, with the help of residents and fire units, it was possible to put out the strong flames.
The police authorities are still continuing with the investigations of the incident to determine the causes that caused the first explosion of at least 12 large rockets, each of 144 units, which caused considerable economic losses, in addition to irreparable damage to the infrastructure of the workshop.
The Police ruled out injuries and fatalities in the incident, because at the time of the explosion, the owners were not there, nor were the workers, a total of 12 people.
Fire in other gunpowder workshops
Part of one of the work areas where gunpowder was made and handled in the El Carmen workshop.
On March 4, 2022, an explosion in the gunpowder workshop known as San Sebastián, located in the La Poma region of the Pacayita community, in Masaya, alerted the residents, who helped quell the incident that caused the destruction of the business. and left a balance of two people injured and one in serious condition, due to the burns on his body.
The then police commissioner of this city, Luis Barrantes, assured that the explosion was due to poor handling of the gunpowder at the time of the preparation of the rockets and indicated that «a spark», caused the fire. In the workshop owned by Bravío García Alemán, 49, at least 15 people were working when the incident occurred.
Three weeks after the event, the young Francisco Javier Pérez Alvarado, 22, became the first fatality of this explosion when he died after being hospitalized due to the burns he suffered during the incident, which supposedly left financial losses exceeding 100,000 córdobas, according to García Alemán.
Masaya city of artisans
Another fully incinerated gunpowder deposit from the El Carmen workshop.
The department of Masaya is characterized by having the largest number of artisans in the country, both footwear, clay, wood, leather, and of course gunpowder. The indigenous people of Monimbó as well as the so-called «white villages»stand out for the beauty of their handicrafts that they offer and that have changed the lives and economy of the families of Masaya.
Before 2018, Monimbó led as the cradle of gunpowder artisans, one of the items with the highest consumption in the country, however, political persecution and the police siege decreased the number of workshops in this neighborhood of Masaya, known as the bastion of resistance of the anti-government protests in Nicaragua.
By: United Voices.
