Family members and friends of victims of an explosion at a fireworks market wait outside a hospital in Coacalco, Mexico, December 20, 2016. REUTERS/Henry Romero
Mexico City: Dozens of people were hurt Tuesday when a fireworks market in Mexico's capital exploded in a rapid-fire sequence of colorful blasts and a vast amount of smoke.
Officials with the civil protection service told national television that "at the moment there are 60 people injured" in the incident in the suburb of Tultepec.
But sources in the local fireworks association said up to 70 people were hurt. Medics said some were in serious condition with burns to much of their body.
Fire crews were struggling to control the blaze. But the head of the civil protection service, Luis Felipe Puente, said they had to wait for all the firework explosions to stop.
The governor of Mexico state, Eruviel Avila, said on Twitter that the priority was to "tend to the injured."
The military was deployed to help emergency crews transport casualties to hospitals by ambulance and by helicopter.
"The sound of blasts started to go off and we thought it was a nearby fireworks workshop," one local, Alejandra Pretel, told AFP.
But minutes later it became evident that it was the market going up.
"My neighbors said they felt everything shake, but I didn't realize because I was running away," she said.
