Frantic search in Mexico
Rescuers dig through rubble of office tower following explosion
MEXICO CITY • Rescuers searched for survivors Friday and authorities promised a thorough investigation after an office building blast killed 32 people and injured 121 at the headquarters of Mexico’s stateowned oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos.
The cause of the basement explosion in an administrative building next to the iconic 51-story Pemex tower in Mexico City remained a mystery, with President Enrique Pena Nieto urging people not to speculate.
But early signs pointed to an accident in an area that housed electrical and air-conditioning equipment, according to a government official who was not authorized to speak by name.
Pemex Director Emilio Lozoya said the same, but added that no line of investigation is being discarded. Questions continued to abound about a possible attack on Mexico’s most important installation just as the government is talking about a controversial energy reform and opening up Pemex to outside investors.
Lozoya said the priority remains rescue and recovery. He said 52 remained hospitalized, and survivors and bodies still may be found in the rubble. More than 500 firefighters, soldiers and rescue workers dug through chunks of concrete, aided by dogs, trucks and a Pemex crane.
The explosion occurred at about 3:45 p.m., just as the administrative shift was about to end. It hit the basement and three floors, where as many as 250 people work, Lozoya said.
The floors collapsed in the 14-story administrative building at the headquarters office complex, where some 10,000 people work daily. Lozoya said about 1,700 work in the building affected.