REYNOSA, Mexico (Reuters) – At least 26 people were killed and as many injured when a Pemex gas facility burst into flames in northern Mexico yesterday, one of the worst accidents to hit the state oil monopoly in recent years.
Television footage showed flames leaping high into the sky during the blaze at a gas compression station near the city of Reynosa, a key entry point for natural gas to Mexico from the United States.
Pemex said gas imports from the United States were not affected, as the station stores gas from Mexico’s Burgos field, and is not an import terminal.
It was the third blaze in about five weeks at Pemex installations in Tamaulipas, a border state that has struggled to contain the menace of warring drug gangs.
Parts of the plant were reduced to a mangled wreckage of twisted, charred tubing, the earth beneath scorched black. Soldiers stood guard with assault rifles at the entrance.
Victor Barrera, a local subcontractor at the plant, said he was only about 30 metres (100 feet) away when a pipeline exploded.
“A friend just told me around 40 people who were working on the tank were burned when there was a sudden explosion. I didn’t even have time to turn around, what I did was run to save myself,” said Barrera.
The cause of the fire was unclear. Pemex said it was still investigating after fire fighters brought it under control yesterday afternoon.
Illegal tapping of pipelines, often by criminal gangs, has cost Mexico hundreds of millions of dollars and sparked other major fires in the past.
Four of those killed yesterday were Pemex staff, and the other 22 were contract workers, the company said. Another 27 people were injured.
The fire disrupted gas distribution in the area after Pemex turned off the pipeline, and local deliveries could be put under more serious strain if the shutdown is prolonged.
