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The blast ripped through a popular open-air fireworks market outside Mexico City.
A massive explosion ripped through a fireworks open-air market outside Mexico City on Tuesday, killing at least 31 people and injuring 72 others, local officials said.
“The most important thing right now is saving the lives of the injured,” Eruviel Ávila Villegas, governor of the state of Mexico, said at a news conference Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Mexico state chief prosecutor Alejandro Gomez announced the rising death toll after another two people died at the hospital, the Associated Press reported.
The number of fatalities could still rise, he added, because 12 people were listed as missing and body parts were found at the scene.
Some bodies were so badly burned that neither age nor gender could be immediately determined.
In a Facebook Live video, Villegas said three children with severe burns were taken to a hospital in Galveston, Texas, that specializes in treating the trauma. All of the hospital costs and post care expenses would be covered by the Mexican government, he added.
“The state of Mexico is mourning over this unfortunate accident,” he said.
Among the dead identified so far was a 3-month-old boy and 12-year-old girl.
One survivor, Crescencia Francisco Garcia, told the AP she was in middle of the grid of merchant stalls when the explosions started. As she ran with others in the smoke, she said she saw bloodied people with burns.
“Everything was catching fire. Everything was exploding,” Francisco said. “The stones were flying, pieces of brick, everything was flying.”
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