Wednesday, May 08, 2013

Gas Tanker Explosion Near Mexico City


22 dead in gas tanker explosion near Mexico City

Associated Press/Gabriela Sanchez - The part of a gas tanker truck lies next to destroyed vehicles after the tanker exploded on a nearby highway in the Mexico City suburb of Ecatepec early Tuesday, May 7, 2013. 

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A natural gas tanker truck lost control, hit a center divider and exploded on a highway lined by homes in theMexico City suburb of Ecatepec early Tuesday, killing at least 22 people and injuring nearly three dozen, authorities said.

Officials at the Citizen Safety Department of Mexico State, which surrounds the capital, did not rule out the possibility the death toll could rise. At least a dozen people remained hospitalized late Tuesday, several of them in critical condition.

Gov. Eruviel Avila said late Tuesday that 22 people were known dead in a letter to Pope Francis, with whom he was supposed to meet at the Vatican on Wednesday. Avila said he was returning toMexico instead.

The state safety department's spokesman, Cesar Diaz, said emergency workers would continue searching through the night in the charred remains of vehicles and homes built near the highway on the northern edge of the metropolis.


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