MEXICO CITY, Sept 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Thursday backed an investigation into Wednesday’s gas tanker explosion in the capital city to prevent similar incidents in the future.
The explosion has left eight people dead and 94 others injured.
At her daily press conference at the National Palace, Sheinbaum said the Mexican government, especially the Secretariat of Energy, collaborates in the investigation.
“What happened yesterday is very tragic, it’s an accident that we have to see why,” Sheinbaum stressed, after offering her solidarity with the families affected by the explosion.
Mexican investigators were working to determine the cause of a crash in which the tanker truck carrying more than 13,000 gallons (49,500 liters) of gas exploded on a major highway in the capital.
The fiery crash Wednesday that burned more than two-dozen vehicles created a gruesome scene of badly burned survivors staggering in the street in tattered clothing as first responders rushed to the scene. The injured suffered second- and third-degree burns.
The tragedy drew renewed attention to the thousands of trucks that rumble through Mexico daily carrying liquid propane, which most homes and businesses rely on for cooking and heating water. Regulators said a preliminary review revealed the truck did not have up-to-date insurance allowing it to transport gas.
While Wednesday’s accident involved a large tanker, rather than the smaller ones that make residential deliveries, both have been involved in deadly crashes over the past decade.
In 2020, a double tanker carrying liquid propane flipped on a highway in the western state of Nayarit and killed 13 people when the fire spread to other vehicles.
In 2015, a leak on a smaller propane truck making a delivery at a Mexico City maternity hospital allowed gas to leak into the building and blow most of it up, killing five and injuring dozens.
“This is a horrible accident,” Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada said at the site of the explosion Wednesday night.
Lists of the injured showed that some suffered burns over 100% of their bodies. Among those injured were a baby and a 2-year-old child.
The crash occurred on the highway connecting Mexico City with Puebla and in the capital’s most populous borough Iztapalapa.
The liquefied petroleum gas tanker overturned and exploded while passing through the Concordia Bridge in eastern Mexico City — NNN-AGENCIES
