{"id":29011,"date":"2016-12-21T22:50:19","date_gmt":"2016-12-21T22:50:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=29011"},"modified":"2016-12-21T22:50:19","modified_gmt":"2016-12-21T22:50:19","slug":"29-dead-70-hurt-in-mexico-fireworks-market-blast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=29011","title":{"rendered":"29 dead, 70 hurt in Mexico fireworks market blast"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"blast\"International desk: A massive explosion gutted Mexico's biggest fireworks market, killing at least 29 people and injuring 70, authorities said.<\/p>\n

The conflagration, in the Mexico City suburb of Tultepec, set off a quick-fire series of multicolored blasts and\u00a0sent a vast cloud of smoke billowing over the capital city.<\/p>\n

The market had been packed with customers buying pyrotechnics for traditional end-of-year festivities. Christmas and New Year's parties in many Latin American countries often wrap up with clattering firework blasts.<\/p>\n

“You just heard the blast. And everything started to be on fire. In fact, people came running out on fire,” said Walter Garduno, who witnessed the tragedy.<\/p>\n

“People were running out on fire, alight … children,” said Garduno, before trailing off.<\/p>\n

From a few kilometers (miles) away, the multiple explosions that started at 2:50 pm (2050 GMT) almost looked festive, alight in blue, red and white. They were anything but.<\/p>\n

“We recovered 26 bodies at the scene of the incident. And three more have died in the hospital, for a total of 29 dead,” Mexico state's governor Eruviel Avila said.<\/p>\n

Federal police said on Twitter that 70 people were hurt and were transported to emergency rooms.<\/p>\n

Fire crews struggled for three hours before bringing the blaze under control.<\/p>\n

Entire market blown up<\/h2>\n

The head of the civil protection service, Luis Felipe Puente, said crews had to wait for all the fireworks to finish exploding before they could extinguish the flames.<\/p>\n

“The entire market is gone,” he said. It had 300 stands.<\/p>\n

He added that several of the injured were in “delicate condition,” and searches were under way for more casualties in the scorched area that looked like a scene from a post-apocalyptic film, with little left standing in the smoldering ruins.<\/p>\n

Homes and vehicles nearby were also severely damaged. In some areas, authorities were gently probing for survivors under heaps of charred and twisted roofing material.<\/p>\n

People desperately searching for family and friends shouted and gestured to rescuers about where they hoped their missing loved one might be found.<\/p>\n

Most of those being picked up by rescuers had severe burns, many over their entire bodies.<\/p>\n

The military, which is in charge of issuing fireworks sales permits, was deployed to help emergency crews transport casualties to hospitals by ambulance and helicopter.<\/p>\n

Ambulances, fire trucks, police vehicles and army trucks all crowded the sprawling blast area.<\/p>\n

Everything shook<\/h2>\n

Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto tweeted his condolences to the families of those killed and his wishes for recovery for those hurt.<\/p>\n

The cause of the blast was under investigation. Some speculated it could have been mishandling of gunpowder or other fireworks components.<\/p>\n

That was the cause of a September 15, 2005 explosion at another fireworks market set up ahead of the Independence Day holiday. That market was destroyed.<\/p>\n

The following year, another explosion destroyed more than 200 sellers' stands. Both incidents left dozens of injured, but no fatalities.<\/p>\n

Alejandra Pretel, a resident in Tultepec, told AFP that she didn't realize at first that the explosions were coming from the large fireworks market.<\/p>\n

“We thought it was a nearby fireworks workshop,” she told AFP.<\/p>\n

But minutes later it became evident that it was the market being destroyed.<\/p>\n

“My neighbors said they felt everything shake, but I didn't realize because I was running away,” she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

International desk: A massive explosion gutted Mexico’s biggest fireworks market, killing at least 29 people and injuring 70, authorities said. The conflagration, in the Mexico City suburb of Tultepec, set off a quick-fire series of multicolored blasts and\u00a0sent a vast cloud of smoke billowing over the capital city. The market had been packed with customers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":29012,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n