Dozens Killed in Massive Mexico Fireworks Explosion

TULTEPEC, MEXICO–According to the governor of the state of Mexico, Eruviel Ávila Villegas, twenty-nine people were killed and more than 70 people injured after an explosion at a fireworks market in Mexico yesterday.

The explosion in Tultepec was confirmed in a tweet by Luis Felipe Puente, the National Coordinator for Civil Protection.

Dramatic video was posted to Facebook showing clouds of thick smoke billowing from the market as several went off at once.

However, this is not the first time this has happened. In 2005, The Associated Press reported a fire that engulfed the same market, sparking a chain of explosions that leveled hundreds of stalls just ahead of Mexico’s Independence Day.

A similar fire at the San Pablito Market also destroyed hundreds of stands in 2006, according to The AP.