Huge fireworks explosion kills at least 14 in Mexico

A cache being stored for a celebration next week is set off by an errant firecracker.

MEXICO CITY — At least 14 people died and 30 were injured when an errant firecracker hit a cache of fireworks in the Mexican state of Puebla, triggering a massive blast.

Local authorities said the fireworks were being stored in a home behind a church ahead of a religious celebration next week in San Isidro, a rural village about 150 miles east of Mexico City.

In Mexico, where festivals and holidays are frequently celebrated with fireworks, accidental blasts with deadly consequences have become a common occurrence.

In December, a series of thunderous explosions tore through an open-air fireworks market outside Mexico City, leaving several dozen dead.

That same market, known as San Pablito, had been rocked by two previous blasts — in 2005 and 2006 — that left dozens of shoppers and vendors injured.

Similar explosions have happened across Latin America, where certain festivals are marked by continuous blasts of firecrackers for days on end. In Lima, Peru, more than 250 people were killed in a 2001 explosion in the city’s biggest fireworks market.

Photos of the site of Monday’s blast show the twostory home nearly destroyed, with only a few concrete walls remaining. A mangled bicycle can be seen in the smoldering remains, along with a painting of Jesus and a pair of tiny children’s shoes.

Eleven of those killed in the incident were minors, said Javier Lozano, a spokesman for the state of Puebla.

Despite frequent and deadly accidents, data show Mexicans continue to spend about $10 million each month on fireworks nationwide.

During the high season between August and Christmas, people in Mexico state buy more than 100 tons of fireworks, according to officials there.

Puebla Gov. Tony Gali offered his condolences Tuesday, pledging his government’s total support to the poor village where the blast took place.

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, in a tweet after the explosion, expressed his sympathies to those who died in Monday’s “tragic accident.”

Photographs by Jose Castanares AFP/Getty Images ELEVEN of those killed in the San Isidro explosion were youths, said Javier Lozano, a spokesman for the Mexican state of Puebla. The fireworks were being stored in a home behind a church for a religious celebration.

AN AERIAL view taken from a drone shows the rubble left after the deadly blast in San Isidro. Accidental blasts involving fireworks are common in Mexico.