Pipeline blast kills one and injures 15 in Mexico

One person was killed and 15 others were injured when an oil pipeline exploded on Sunday in Mexico’s central state of Puebla.

Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador confirmed the death and injuries in a tweet on Sunday. He added that about 1,400 rescue workers had been deployed to assist with the incident.

Lamentable que haya perdido la vida una persona hasta ahora, y se encuentren heridos quince más, a causa de la explosión de un ducto de Pemex en Puebla. Desde las 2:30 de hoy están movilizados 1396 elementos de todas las corporaciones de protección civil.

— Andrés Manuel (@lopezobrador_) October 31, 2021

Puebla’s governor, Miguel Barbosa, said an explosion was sparked when the pipeline of state oil firm Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) had a gas leak as a result of an unlawful fuel tap, according to Reuters.

Gas leak reports prompted evacuations before three explosions destroyed 30 to 50 homes in the area, Reuters added.

Reuters also reported that five of the 15 injuries were serious, and 2,000 people had been evacuated from the area. 

Barbosa added that a “tragedy of enormous proportions” had been prevented by the prompt evacuations. 

Fuel theft has caused several tragic accidents in Mexico. In 2019, more than 100 people died after a Pemex pipeline explosion in Hidalgo following an illegal pipeline tap. 

This summer, a fire erupted in the Gulf of Mexico on a Pemex platform that was due to a leak in a submarine pipeline.