Nine dead and 70 hurt in blast at Mexican fireworks market

An explosion has ripped through Mexico's best-known fireworks market on the northern outskirts of the capital, killing at least nine people, injuring scores more and sending a huge plume of smoke billowing into the sky.

Mexican Federal Police announced via its official Twitter account what it called the preliminary toll from the Monday afternoon blast at the open-air San Pablito Market in Tultepec, in the State of Mexico.