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By AFP
At least 19 people were killed Thursday by several explosions in fireworks warehouses in Tultepec, a city north of Mexico City, near half of the victims are rescuers trapped.
This city, famous for its homemade pyrotechnic devices and which has the largest fireworks market in the country, has already been mourned by several similar accidents, the deadliest in 2016 having killed 42.
The first explosion took place around 09H30. As police and firefighters arrived at the scene and began to take care of the victims, the fire spread to other warehouses causing further explosions.
"We are deeply sorry for the deaths of those who were killed this morning in (…) Tultepec, including our firefighters and police colleagues who lost their lives by saving many others," said Red Cross of Mexico State, where Tultepec is located, in a tweet
At least 19 people were killed, including a minor, and 40 wounded, announced the Minister of the Interior of the State Alejandro Ozuna
Among the dead are four firefighters, four municipal policemen and a state policeman, state security minister Maribel Cervantes announced.
Hours after the tragedy, hundreds of soldiers, police and firefighters were deployed in the Xahuento neighborhood, on the outskirts of the city, around buildings still smoking.
A powerful smell of gunpowder saturated l 'ambiant air. Outside the vast security perimeter were burnt furniture and burnt bricks on the grbad.
"I had breakfast when I heard a terrible explosion. We ran out of the house and saw a huge white cloud in the sky, as if it was going to rain. Except that today, it rained fire, "said Alondra Perez, 62, who lives on the other side of the street.
Accidents in the pyrotechnic industry are common in Mexico, especially in Tultepec, where the fireworks traditionally used by Mexicans to celebrate sacred days are made.
A spectacular explosion in the great Mexican market fireworks had left 42 dead and 70 injured in December 2016. A rocket exploded causing chain reactions. The market, so crowded before Christmas and New Year's Eve, had been turned into a field of ruins.
More recently, on June 6, an explosion killed seven more people in the city.
"People here want to continue making fireworks. That's their tradition, "a police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"But they do not measure the consequences of these tragedies. It's annoying because our firefighters (…) end up losing their lives saving these people. "
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto offered his condolences to the families of the victims on Twitter, and the Minister of the Interior Alejandro Ozuna said that a "comprehensive check" of all permits for the workshops would be done.
"We are talking about a way of life and a tradition, but we must send a message to the community and they must understand that it is necessary to regulate all this, for their own safety, "he declared.
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