An explosion has ripped through a fireworks market on the northern outskirts of Mexico City, reportedly killing at least 31 people and injuring 70.
The explosion, which was caught on camera, sent a huge plume of charcoal-grey smoke billowing into the sky over the town of Tultepec. Images broadcast by Milenio TV showed smoke rising from the scorched ground and fireworks stands.
More than a dozen children suffered burns to over 90% of their bodies and were being sent to the US city of Galveston in Texas for treatment, said Eruviel Avila, the governor of the state of Mexico. The state’s top prosecutor raised the death toll late on on Tuesday to 31.
Avila vowed to find and punish those responsible for the blast and provide economic assistance to those who had lost their livelihoods.
The explosion flattened the San Pablito market which is one of the mainstays of the economy in Tultepec and where many people make a living from manufacturing fireworks – often in clandestine workshops.
The Christmas season brings in brisk business, according to merchants at the market, as Mexicans stock up on pyrotechnics.
More than 80% of the 300 stalls at the market were destroyed by the explosion, said state official Jose Manzur. Local media reported there were 300 tonnes of fireworks on site at the time of the explosion.
The cause of the explosion is still under investigation. Officials in Mexico state, which surrounds Mexico City, said they were focusing their attention on the injured.
The San Pablito market had suffered explosions previously.
The market ignited on the eve of Independence celebrations in September 2005, injuring 128 vendors and customers, according to press reports. Officials at the time blamed customers being given improper permission to ignite explosive items, which set off a chain of explosions.
Source: UK Guardian
This is just terrible, what a sad event just few days to xmas. Rip to the dead