Dozens of people were killed in rebel-held territory in northeastern Myanmar on Sunday after a massive explosion at a warehouse leveled large parts of a village.

The blast occurred around noon on Sunday in Kaung Tup, a village in Shan State near the Chinese border, at a building that stored explosives for mining and quarrying, according to the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, which the controls the area. It said the incident was “accidental” and the cause was under investigation.

It did not give specifics about casualties, but local media and a rescue worker said at least 55 people had died, including children.

Footage posted on social media showed white clouds of smoke in the air followed by a massive secondary explosion. Some residents thought it was an air raid by Myanmar’s military, which rebels say has kept up attacks despite agreeing to a cease-fire in October.

“The sound was so loud that we thought an aircraft was dropping bombs,” Lway Poe Nge, who lives in Kaung Tup, said by telephone. “My house was completely destroyed.”

She said that she and her mother managed to escape because they ran out quickly from their house; but that her cousin, who lived next door, died after rubble fell on her house.

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

Supported by