Burnt houses in San Martin Texmelucan on Sunday after a pipeline operated by Mexico’s state-owned oil company Petroleos Mexicanos exploded when thieves were attempting to steal oil.
SAN MARTIN TEXMELUCAN, Mexico - At least 28 people were killed, 13 of them children, in a fire disaster. Authorities blamed on oil thieves. At least 52 people were hurt and 84 remained in a shelter late Sunday after fleeing San Martin, which is about 90 kilometres east of Mexico City. More than 115 homes were scorched, 32 of them destroyed.
Authorities, including President Felipe Calderon(photo), said the explosion was apparently caused by thieves trying to steal crude oil, and local, state and federal agencies promised to stop at nothing to bring whoever is responsible to justice. There were no immediate arrests.- The blast in San Martin Texmelucan, initially estimated to have affected 5,000 residents in a five-kilometre radius, left metal and pavement twisted and in some cases burned to ash in the intense heat.
Investigators found a hole in the pipeline and equipment for extracting crude, said Laura Gurza, chief of the federal Civil Protection emergency response agency. Thieves "lost control because of the high pressure with which the fuel exits the pipeline", said Valentin Meneses, interior secretary for the state of Puebla, where San Martin is located.
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