Blast also wounds 22, with as many as 11 of the fatalities said to be minors, after explosion in December killed 42 and injured 70

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

An explosion at a fireworks warehouse in Mexico has killed at least 14 people, all but three of them children, in a poor Mexican village as it celebrated a religious festival.



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The blast occurred Monday night in a rural area of central Puebla state, Diodoro Carrasco, a senior official in the state government, told the radio station Cinco Radio.

He said as many as 11 of the fatalities might be minors.

The explosion in the village of San Isidro, 170 miles (270 km) east of Mexico City, came during preparations for a religious festival on 15 May, the state government said.

It said the fireworks had been stored inside a home behind a church ahead of a May 15 religious celebration, and the firecracker that set off the explosion was launched by someone outside. The home was destroyed.

Eleven of those killed “were minors aged between four and 15”, the statement said.

Nine people were killed on the spot and five others died later in hospital.

The explosion left 22 people injured, including three children who were in serious condition, an official in the state governor’s office, Javier Lozano, told reporters.

“It is a tragedy. Most of them died due to the collapse of the building they were in,” he said.

“Most of them were killed by being buried.”

Army troops and government officials cordoned off the blast site as ambulances rush in to collect the wounded.

The state governor, Antonio Gali Fayad, who plans to visit the scene of the accident, expressed his condolences overnight Monday as the scope of the tragedy became clear.

Accidents involving the manufacture of fireworks are common in Mexico.

Last December, 42 people died and 70 were injured in a series of spectacular explosions at the country’s largest fireworks market, in the town of Tultepec outside Mexico City.

In that catastrophe, the sky filled with multicolored smoke as the San Pablito market echoed with the crack and thunder of exploding fireworks.

The market was filled with people shopping for Christmas and New Year’s festivities. It was reduced to smoldering ruins.

Survivors described hellish scenes of people on fire, including children, as they ran from the market.

Investigators believe a rocket exploded at that market and set off a chain reaction of other blasts.

Christmas and New Year’s parties in many Latin American countries often wrap up with a fireworks free-for-all.

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The entire Mexican village of Tultepec has specialized in making fireworks since the 19th century.

The San Pablito market had been rocked by two explosions in the past: in September 2005, ahead of the Independence Day holiday, and again the following year.

Both incidents left dozens of people injured, but no fatalities.

The fireworks industry reports nearly $10m a month in revenue in Mexico.

Puebla government official Diodoro Carrasco insisted the industry “is perfectly well regulated”, in comments to television channel Milenio.

“What is very difficult to supervise is the transfer of the fireworks, whether they are stored correctly,” he said.