Death toll from Mexico fuel pipeline blast rises to 66
The death toll from the explosion of a pipeline ruptured by suspected fuel thieves in central Mexico has risen to 66, the governor of the state of Hidalgo said on Saturday.
At a news conference with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Hidalgo Governor Omar Fayad said 76 people had also been injured in Friday evening's explosion, which happened as people tried to fill containers with fuel.
Dozens of burned bodies lay in the charred field where the blast occurred in the municipality of Tlahuelilpan as forensic experts inspected and photographed the remains. Soldiers and other military personnel surrounded the cordoned-off area.
The field was littered with half-burned shoes and clothes as well as with buckets and drums used by people to collect fuel. Relatives of victims stood huddled together, some crying.
Lopez Obrador pledged to step up his government's drive to stamp out fuel theft, which has cost the country billions of dollars in the last few years.
