(Video: Twitter)
Mexico City (People's Daily) - The death toll from Mexico oil pipeline explosion rises to 66, according to local officials.
The tragedy occurred in the community of San Primitivo, municipality of Tlahuelilpan, where the leak Friday afternoon drew residents with buckets, jugs and garbage cans to collect gasoline.
The explosion occurred around 7:10 pm, triggering flames over 20 meters high.
Mexican soldiers stand guard at the scene of a massive blaze trigerred by a leaky pipeline in Tlahuelilpan, Hidalgo state, Mexico, on January 18, 2019. (Photo: VCG)
The governor of Hidalgo, Omar Fayad, said on Twitter that he was flying to the site and taking measures for safety of the residents.
The Secretary of Government of Hidalgo, Simón Vargas Aguilar, reported that 61 of the injured have been transferred to hospitals in the region.
In an interview with Milenio Television, the official added that these people have burns between 40 and 70 percent and have been taken to hospitals of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) and Security and Social Services of State Workers (ISSSTE).
The Red Cross said on social networks that that it sent 16 ambulances to the site.
"I am very sorry for the serious situation in Tlahuelilpan due to the explosion in a pipeline. I am in Aguascalientes and after the director of Pemex and the Secretary of Defense informed me, I gave instructions for the fire to be put out and the victims to be taken care of," President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said on Twitter.
