The number of people confirmed dead in a fuel pipeline explosion in central Mexico late last week has risen to 96.
The site where a massive blaze trigerred by a leaky pipeline took place in Tlahuelilpan, Hidalgo state, Mexico Photo: AFP / Alfredo Estrella
Hundreds of people were crowded in to collect gasoline gushing from a pipeline, near the town of Tlahuelilpan in the state of Hidalgo, when it exploded.
It had been ruptured by suspected fuel thieves.
Central Mexico has been hard-hit by petrol shortages since President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador launched a crackdown on fuel theft nearly a month ago, ordering pipelines closed in an effort to stamp out criminal activity.
Motorists queue at a Pemex service station in Zapopan, Jalisco State, during the controversial government crackdown to fight fuel theft. Photo: AFP / Ulises Ruiz
Hidalgo's government said in a statement 96 people had been confirmed dead from the explosion, the worst to affect Mexico's troubled oil infrastructure in several years.
Another 48 people were receiving treatment for their injuries, it said.
Relatives of three of the people killed in a massive blaze triggered by a leaky pipeline in Tlahuelilpan, attend their funeral in Teltipan de Juarez. Photo: AFP / Alfredo Estrella
Aerial view of the scene where a massive blaze trigerred by a leaky pipeline took place. Photo: AFP
- Reuters