A pair of explosions at a fireworks factory just outside of Mexico City has killed at least 19 people and injured many more. The explosions occurred in Tultepec, a city with roughly 100,000 people located approximately 26 miles north of Mexico City.
Video of the massive smoke plumes from the factory was broadcast on Foro TV, shown below.
BREAKING: Explosions rip through fireworks factory near Mexico City, killing at least 17 people, including rescue workers
According to a statement provided to Reuters, rescue workers and firefighters were converging on the site of the 9:30 a.m. explosion when a second explosion occurred, injuring and killing additional people, including rescue workers.
Mexico civil protection agency head Luis Felipe Puente said there have been at least 19 confirmed fatalities and 40 injured. Mexico’s Interior Minister said one of the deceased was a minor. A cause for the blasts is currently unknown.
Mexico President Enrique Peña Nieto Expressed Offered His Condolences on Twitter
Mexico President Enrique Peña Nieto issued a statement on Twitter about the strategy.
In translation: “I deeply regret the loss of life in the explosion that occurred in #Tultepec. I send my condolences to the families of the deceased and I wish prompt recovery to those who were injured. #PcSegob and @SEDENAmx support the @edomex in emergency attention.”
Tultepec Is Known for its Fireworks Production in Mexico & has had Multiple Tragic Fireworks Accidents Before
On December 20, 2016, an explosion at Tultepec’s San Pablito Market killed at least 42. A rocket exploded in the market causing 300 tons of fireworks that were in the market at the time to explode. An additional 84 victims were injured.
Two previous explosions, once in 2005 and another in 2006, caused dozens of injuries but no deaths.
The latest tragedy in Tultepec caused a police officer to speak out about the culture surrounding fireworks in the area.
“People here insist on continuing to make fireworks. It’s their tradition. But they don’t gage the consequences of these tragedies. It’s infuriating, because our firefighter colleagues… end up dead saving these people,” he said in a statement to AFP, published by Yahoo!
More than half of Tultepec residents work in the fireworks industry, and the city is responsible for roughly half of the country’s fireworks production. Every year, 100,000 people flock to the National Pyrotechnic Festival in Tultepec, a festival that originated as a celebration for the John of God, the patron saint of fireworks.
This is a developing story.