Thieves went to gas geyser ‘like zombies’

TLA HUELILPAN, MEXICO • People in the town where a gasoline explosion killed at least 85 people say the section of pipeline that gushed fuel has been a habitual gathering site for thieves, repeatedly damaged and patched like a trusty pair of jeans.

“It was the popular tap,” said Enrique Cerron, 22, a student who lives near the field. “You could pass by at 11 or 12 in the morning and see people filling up here.”

On Friday, amid countrywide fuel shortages at gas stations as the government attempts to stem widespread fuel theft, this particular section of pipeline had come back into service after being offline for nearly four weeks when somebody punctured the line again. Word quickly spread through the community of 20,000 people that gas was flowing.

Hundreds showed up at the spigot, carrying plastic jugs and covering their faces with bandanas. A few threw rocks and swung sticks at soldiers who tried to shoo them away.

At first the gasoline leak was manageable, locals say, emitting a tame fountain of fuel that allowed for filling small buckets at a time. But as the crowd swelled to more than 600, people became impatient.

That’s when a man rammed a piece of rebar into a patch, according to Irma Velasco, who lives near the alfalfa field where the explosion took place, and gasoline shot six metres into the air, like water from a geyser.

A carnival atmosphere took over. Giddy adults soaked in gasoline filled jugs and passed them to runners. Those closest to the gusher apparently became delirious, intoxicated by fumes. Townspeople stumbled about.

Velasco said she rushed to aid a man she saw staggering along the road and away from the gusher. She removed his gas-drenched clothes to help alleviate the overwhelming stench of toxic fuel.

Cerron was at the heart of the mayhem when he sensed mounting danger.

“They looked like zombies trying to get all that gasoline out,” said Cerron, who decided to head home.

Cerron turned for one last glance at the gusher. Instead he saw flames.

By Sunday evening, the death toll from the blaze had risen to 85, with 58 others hospitalized. Dozens more were listed as missing. The townspeople were incinerated by a fireball, reduced to clumps of ash and bones.

The disaster came just three weeks after President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador launched an offensive against fuel theft gangs that had drilled dangerous, illegal taps into pipelines an astounding 12,581 times in the first 10 months of 2018, an average of about 42 per day.

The crackdown has led to fuel scarcity at gas stations throughout the country due to shifts in distribution, both licit and illicit.