29 Killed, 72 Injured In Mexico Fireworks Blast
MEP: An explosion has ripped through a fireworks market on the northern outskirts of Mexico City on Tuesday, killing at least 29 people and injuring 72 others.
Television images showed a flurry of pyrotechnics as a giant plume of smoke rose above the market. Fireworks detonated in a peal of clattering bursts reminiscent of a war zone.
Dozens of paramedics and police attended the scene. The cause of the explosions is not yet known.
The casualty toll may rise as rescue workers continue to search for victims at the site of the explosion.
It was the third time in just over a decade that explosions have hit the popular San Pablito marketplace in Tultepec, about 20 miles (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.
Officials said a number of children were among those who were badly burned, on up to 90% of their bodies.
The governor of Mexico state, Eruviel Avila, said that the current priority was to “tend to the injured.”
A video from Red Cross Mexico showed the devastation and panic as people ran from the scene.
Acuden 10 ambulancias de @CruzRojaEM con 50 paramédicos al incendio en el mercado de cohetes de #Tultepec. pic.twitter.com/N0VucD83GE
— Cruz Roja Mexicana IAP (@CruzRoja_MX) December 20, 2016
“People were crying everywhere and desperately running in all directions,” said 20-year-old witness Cesar Carmona.
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.
As she ran away she saw people with burns and cuts, and lots of blood.
“Everything was catching fire. Everything was exploding,” Francisco said. “The stones were flying, pieces of brick, everything was flying.”
Mexican media reported there were 300 tonnes of fireworks at the market at the time of the explosions.
