Several dead as avalanche sets off gas blast

Pounding rain caused an avalanche that broke a Mexican gas line, setting off an explosion at a truck stop that killed several people and injured scores, according to local officials.

Early reports indicated that three to five people died and more than 60 were injured, said Jose Antonio Marquez, a spokesman for Veracruz state. A highway policeman had earlier said 15 died, but several Red Cross officials said the reports were unconfirmed.

The explosion apparently ripped through an area of small roadside restaurants called Balastrera, about 115 miles south east of Mexico City.

“There are a lot of people” who stop there, said Alejandro Martinez of the Red Cross in nearby Orizaba. “Many truckers stop there to sleep.”

The federal oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos, said that first indications indicated that an avalanche of water and mud broke a 24-inch gas line, setting off an explosion at about 7.50pm local time yesterday.

The rush of water also contributed to flooding in at least seven neighbourhoods in the nearby town of Nogales, and officials there told the Formato 21 radio station in Mexico City that 80 to 100 people had to be evacuated.

Troops helped more than 100 police from a variety of local police agencies. The Red Cross sent ambulances from cities as far as 25 miles away.

The flooding and a mountainous terrain that blocked radio signals complicated efforts to determine the scope of the incident, which forced closure of the main expressway between Mexico City and the Gulf for at least two hours.