Mexico: Explosion and fires kill 22 after oil theft

A PIPELINE exploded in central Mexico yesterday as thieves were trying to steal oil, killing at least 22 people and sending rivers of flaming crude through city streets. Authorities estimated that the explosion and resulting spill affected a three-mile radius.

The principal explosion, followed by four additional minor blasts, injured at least 32 people and forced hundreds to flee the city of San Martin Texmelucan, 55 miles east of Mexico City. It also destroyed 32 houses and damaged 83 more.

"We saw rivers of fire in the streets," Valentin Meneses, interior secretary for the state of Puebla, where San Martin is located, said.

Mr Meneses said the explosion, which happened? in the early hours of yesterday morning, was apparently provoked by thieves trying to steal crude oil.

"They lost control because of the high pressure with which the fuel exits the pipeline," he said, adding that the oil began to flow down the city's streets and into a nearby river.

The state-owned oil company Petroleos Mexicanos said it had shut down the pipeline. The explosion occurred in a residential neighbourhood which is not near major oil refining or transportation facilities.

Civil protection authorities, firefighters and military officers were investigating and trying to ensure there are no more explosions. No-one has been detained.

Photos and video from the scene showed charred vehicles, burned-out homes and scorched ground around the moderately populated outskirts of the town. A cloud of thick, black smoke was seen over the accident site.