Nineteen people were killed and at least 40 injured Thursday when a series of explosions ripped through fireworks workshops in a town just north of Mexico City, according to officials.
The dead included at least four firefighters and two police officers who rushed to the scene after the first explosion to rescue victims of the first fireball, only to be killed by a subsequent wave of blasts.
Officials said that four explosions ripped through the area after fire broke out at a clandestine workshop.
“The problem was that after the first explosion, people went running to help, and when the second explosion occurred, these people who ran to help were killed,” Luis Felipe Puente, head of Mexico’s civil defense agency, told the Milenio news network.
After a first blast in the municipality of Tultepec, firefighters, police and other rescue workers arrived at the scene when a second explosion occurred, the state government said in a statement.
Helicopters took the wounded to several local hospitals, and more than 300 police were dispatched to the scene.
The town is home to a major fireworks industry and explosions have become a regular occurrence.
> Shiuly Rina
At least 19 killed and Dozens Injured in Fireworks Explosions in Mexico
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