Blast at Mexico fireworks market kills at least 31
Third time in a decade market hit by explosion
TULTEPEC (Reuters) – A series of massive explosions destroyed a fireworks market outside the Mexican capital on Tuesday, killing at least 31 people, injuring dozens and leaving the market a charred wasteland.
Teams of forensic investigators on Wednesday pored over the charred remains of the fireworks market. Videos of the blasts at the San Pablito market showed a spectacular flurry of pyrotechnics exploding high into the sky like rockets in a war zone as a massive plume of charcoal-gray smoke billowed out from the site.
It was the third time in just over a decade that explosions have hit the popular San Pablito marketplace in Tultepec, about 32 km. north of Mexico City. The detonations struck in the run-up to the busy Christmas holiday, when many Mexicans stock up on fireworks.
Eruviel Avila, the state’s governor, said the explosions injured at least 72 people while another 53 remained missing.
“Everything was destroyed, it was very ugly and many bodies were thrown all over the place, including a lot of children. It’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” said 24-year-old housewife Angelica Avila as tears ran down her face.
Avila spoke outside a nearby hospital as she waited for an update on the health of her brother, a fireworks salesman who was burned and suffered a heart attack.
“People were crying everywhere and desperately running in all directions,” said 20-yearold witness Cesar Carmona.
Some children suffered burns to more than 90% of their bodies and were being sent to Galveston, Texas, for treatment, said Avila.
He also vowed to find and punish those responsible and to provide economic assistance to those who had lost their livelihoods.
The federal attorney-general’s office opened an investigation, saying in a statement that six separate blasts caused the destruction.
Isidro Sanchez, the head of Tultepec emergency services said earlier that a lack of safety measures was the likely cause of the blasts.
The federal police said a forensic team had been sent to investigate and that at least 70 people had been injured. Videos from the scene showed people frantically fleeing, while aerial footage revealed blackened stalls and a flattened tangle of metal and wood.
The state’s top prosecutor raised the death toll late on Tuesday to 31, most of whom died at the market.
More than 80% of the 300 stalls at the market were destroyed by the explosions, said state official Jose Manzur.
He said the market was inspected by safety officials last month and no irregularities were found.
Mexican media reported there were 300 tons of fireworks at the market at the time of the explosions.
The head of a local pyrotechnics association told online publication Animal Politico last week that the fireworks market was the safest in Latin America, featuring “perfectly designed stalls” that could prevent any chain reaction in the event of a spark.
Federico Juarez was present when the first explosion rocked the market. “Everyone started running to escape as bricks and pieces of concrete fell everywhere,” he said.
The blasts were the latest in a long-running series of fatal explosions and industrial accidents that have rocked Mexico’s oil, gas and petrochemical industries.
A blast struck the Tultepec fireworks market in September 2005 just before Independence Day celebrations, injuring many people. Another detonation gutted the area almost a year later.
“I offer my condolences to the relatives of those who lost their lives in this accident and my wishes for a speedy recovery for the injured,” Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said in a tweet.