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Explosion at Fireworks Market in Mexico Kills at Least 26 Explosion at Fireworks Market in Mexico Kills at Least 27
(about 1 hour later)
TULTEPEC, Mexico — An explosion ripped through Mexico’s best-known fireworks market on the northern outskirts of Mexico City on Tuesday afternoon, killing at least 26 people and injuring scores, the federal police said. MEXICO CITY — A huge explosion at Mexico’s largest fireworks market on Tuesday afternoon killed at least 27 people and injured 70, the Mexico State police said.
Sirens wailed and a heavy scent of gunpowder lingered in the air after the blast at the open-air San Pablito Market in Tultepec, in the State of Mexico. Most of the fireworks stalls were completely leveled. The smoking, burned-out shells of vehicles ringed the perimeter, and emergency workers and residents who rushed to help combed through the ashes. Firefighters hosed down still-smoldering hot spots. The explosion occurred at about 3 p.m. at the well-known San Pablito fireworks market in Tultepec, a town on the outskirts of Mexico City. A video of the episode captured by a passing driver showed a chain reaction of explosions followed by enormous plumes of smoke.
The Mexican Red Cross said it had sent 10 ambulances with 50 paramedics to the scene. Dozens of ambulances and fire trucks rushed to the site. Warning that the area had not been secured, officials asked people to stay away out of concern that there could be more explosions. Rescue workers continued to search the scene for victims.
“My condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in this accident and my wishes for a quick recovery for the injured,” President Enrique Peña Nieto said on Twitter. Fireworks accidents are not uncommon in Mexico, especially during the Christmas season, when families purchase hundreds of fireworks for the holidays. Fireworks are a favored tradition among Mexicans, and markets are filled with small fireworks for children.
Luís Felipe Puente, the national civil protection coordinator, said some homes nearby were also damaged. The scene remained dangerous, and he asked people not to come within three miles of the explosion to avoid hampering the emergency response. The explosion at the San Pablito market was the third major blast there in the last 11 years. In 2005 and again in 2006, major explosions took place. While no one was killed in those two episodes, vendor stalls and surrounding areas were damaged.
Fireworks continued to pop long after the blast, and Mr. Puente added that there was no choice but to let any unexploded fireworks be consumed. Despite that history, Luis Felipe Puente, the national civil protection coordinator, said that the market had been certified by the state’s Institute of Pyrotechnics, which just last month described it as “ the safest in all of Latin America.”
Crescencia Francisco Garcia said she arrived in the afternoon to buy fireworks and was near the middle of the grid of stalls when the explosions began around 2:30 p.m. Mexican officials, including President Enrique Peña Nieto and the Mexico State governor, Eruviel Ávila, said the federal and state authorities were working to identify the dead and help the wounded. Officials have asked for a full investigation from the state attorney’s office.
“All of a sudden it started booming,” Ms. Garcia, 41, a Mexico City resident, said. “I and the others surrounding me all took off running.” Mr. Ávila said “the absolute priority’’ at the moment was treating the injured. He said all medical expenses would be taken care of.
Three children who were severely injured, with burns covering as much as 70 percent of their bodies, were transferred to specialized hospitals in Galveston, Tex., he said.
Many people were still unaccounted for, Mr. Ávila said. The authorities were working to identify those who had been killed, he said, so they could offer the victims’ families “precise information as soon as possible regarding the people who unfortunately lost their lives.”
Mr. Ávila said the production and sale of fireworks would continue and that the state would support those who lost their livelihoods in the explosion.