29 killed in explosion at fireworks market
More than 70 injured in Mexico blast
Tultepec, Mexico — A powerful chain-reaction explosion ripped through Mexico’s best-known fireworks market on the northern outskirts of the capital Tuesday, killing at least 29 people, injuring scores more and sending a huge plume of charcoalgray smoke billowing into the sky.
The blast leveled the open-air San Pablito Market in Tultepec in the middle of the afternoon as it bustled with shoppers stocking up on fireworks to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s, reducing vendors’ stands to piles of rubble, ash and charred metal. It was the third devastating explosion and fire to ravage the market since 2005.
Crescencia Francisco Garcia said she was in the middle of the grid of stalls along with a few hundred others when the thunderous explosions began. She froze, reflexively looked up at the sky and then took off running through the smoke once she realized everyone was doing so. As she ran she saw people with burns and cuts, and lots of blood.
“Everything was catching fire. Everything was exploding,” Francisco said.
In comments broadcast on local TV news, Mexico State Gov. Eruviel Avila reported Tuesday night that in addition to the 26 people who perished at the market, three more victims died after being taken to hospitals. State Health Secretary Cesar Nomar Gomez Monge said 72 people were being treated for injuries including severe burns, in some cases over 90% of their bodies. Those hospitalized included 10 children.
Authorities have not yet said what may have caused the explosion but announced that an investigation had been opened.
A similar fire engulfed the San Pablito Market in 2005, touching off a chain of explosions that leveled hundreds of stalls just ahead of Mexico’s Independence Day. A year later a similar incident at the same market also destroyed hundreds of stands.