Mexico fireworks market explosion leaves at least 26 dead

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

An explosion has ripped through Mexico’s best-known fireworks market on the northern outskirts of the capital, reportedly killing at least 26 people and injuring 70.

The explosion, which was caught on camera, sent a huge plume of charcoal-gray smoke billowing into the sky. Images broadcast by Milenio TV showed smoke rising from the scorched ground and fireworks stands. In the aftermath of the explosion, emergency crews were attending to victims and hosing down hotspots.

The blast flattened the San Pablito market in the municipality of Tultepec, where many in the population make living from manufacturing fireworks – often in clandestine workshops.

The Christmas season also brings in brisk business, according to merchants at the market, as Mexicans stock up on pyrotechnics.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/20/mexico-fireworks-market-explosion

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David Agren in Monterrey
Tuesday 20 December 2016 23.54 GMT

[Xipe Totec]

1. God have mercy. nt

[melman]

2. Horrible

That video is unbelievable. It's like something out of a movie, not something you imagine actually happening.

[Plucketeer]

3. ONE spark

Even just static electricity. I wonder if the wages matched the risk of the job?

[Buckeye_Democrat]

4. Holy crap!

[octoberlib]

5. Holy crap is right! Wow. How horrible for the people who lost friends

and loved ones and had to witness this.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

8. Absolutely!

[C Moon]

6. This is what the place looked like (on Google Maps).

A swap meet kind of place.

[littlemissmartypants]

7. So horrible. Heartbreaking.

May the living find a place to bury the sorrow.

[nitpicker]

9. Link to BBC update

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-38387239

[HeartachesNhangovers]

10. Can't watch it - just too awful.

[Eugene]

11. Death toll in Mexico fireworks market blast rises to 35

Source: Reuters

WORLD NEWS | Thu Dec 22, 2016 | 2:08pm EST

Death toll in Mexico fireworks market blast rises to 35

The death toll from a chain of explosions at a popular fireworks market on Mexico City's outskirts rose to at least 35 after two more people were added to the list, the local government said on Thursday.

The cause of the blast on Tuesday that struck the San Pablito open-air market in Tultepec, about 20 miles (30 km) north of Mexico City, several days before Christmas, remained unknown.

It was the third major explosion to devastate the market in just over a decade.

The number of people killed has increased to 35, the State of Mexico's government said in a statement. The latest confirmed victims were a woman and a girl, who both died in hospitals, the government said, noting that 26 people had died at the market, and another nine in hospitals. Dozens more were injured.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mexico-blast-idUSKBN14B260

[philosslayer]

12. This is why we have regulations

Under President Trump, when regulations are abolished, this sort of thing will be commonplace in the USA