Mexico
Fireworks explosion kills as many as 15, injures 20 othersChildren among dead in Mexico fireworks explosion

-- Fireworks stored at a building that also illicitly sold gasoline exploded on Saturday, killing about 15 people and injuring as many as 20, a local official said.

The building also housed video game machines, and most of the dead and injured were believed to be children who frequented the place on weekends, said Roel Ayala Mata, Guerrero state assistant civil defense director.

The blast occurred in the tiny hamlet of Tlacotepec, high in the mountains of southern Guerrero state, about 75 miles north of Acapulco, said Ayala Mata.

Some victims were still buried in the rubble of the brick-and-cement building, and a heavy rain was falling in the area, complicating efforts to dig them out and to determine the number of dead and injured.

Selling gasoline from open drums is a frequent though illegal practice in areas of rural Mexico where the state-owned oil monopoly, Pemex, has yet to open gas stations.

Restrictions on fireworks sales are also flouted, although the volatile mix of a video-game parlor, a gasoline outlet and fireworks sales in the same building was unusual.

Mexico
Fireworks accident kills seven

-- Relatives of a fireworks vendor tried to warm themselves with an open fire behind his store, igniting an explosion that killed four of his nieces and nephews and three customers. The four dead children - all brothers and sisters - ranged in age from 18 months to 7 years, the Tamaulipas state attorney general's office said.

A spark from the bonfire behind his party store landed in gunpowder being made into fireworks, authorities said. That set off boxes of bottle rockets, which had been delivered that day for sale for New Year's celebrations.

The explosion gutted the store, an adjacent building and three cars. Eight other people were wounded in the blast, some of them with serious burns, said Reynosa public investigator.

Ten people were trapped inside the building for more than 30 minutes while poorly equipped rescuers tried to reach them, officials said. Volunteers poured buckets of water on the fire until municipal fire trucks arrived.

Ocozocuautla -- Mexico
Explosions at two fireworks factories
kill two, injure 11

2004 -- Explosions rocked two different Mexican fireworks factories Wednesday, killing two people and injuring 11 others, authorities said. One employee was killed and eight others were injured here in Ocozocuautla, a community in southernmost Chiapas state, where the factory that exploded was fully licensed.

More than 7,200 small explosives detonated in a massive chain reaction, but what caused them to catch fire originally inside the 20-employee factory was unclear, said deputy director of emergency response services for Chiapas state.

He identified the victim who was killed instantly and thrown 33 feet (10 meters) from the factory in the blast. Those injured suffered burns while trying to escape, but none of their injuries were considered life-threatening, he said.

They were taken to hospitals in Ocozocuautla and Tuxtla Gutierrez, the Chiapas capital, 20 miles (35 kilometers) to the west.

State and local authorities called in soldiers to help control the fire engulfing the factory. Its heat was so intense that residents scrambled to get out of the streets, seeking refugee in nearby homes.

One of the employees who escaped unharmed said fire inexplicably swept through part of the factory, igniting the first wave of fireworks. State and local authorities said further investigation was needed.

Around midday in Ajalpan, in the central state of Puebla, a fire started for unknown reasons, causing another licensed fireworks factory to explode. The 70-year-old wife of the factory's owner was killed.

An employee of the factory was seriously injured in the blast, as well as two people who lived and worked in a general store nearby, said the local fire department.

Fire from the explosion spread so quickly that residents themselves scrambled to combat the flames before authorities arrived, he said.

Puebla -- Mexico
Several die as fireworks factory explodes

2003 -- A clandestine fireworks factory exploded early Wednesday, killing at least six people and injuring 12 others, according to local officials.

The blast at 12:45 a.m. awoke neighbors throughout the Aquiles Serdan neighborhood, about 2.5 miles northwest of the central plaza in Puebla.

Authorities said six people were killed and at least 12 others were injured, several of them critically. Firefighters and other rescue workers continued searching amid the debris for victims after daybreak.

Civil Defense Director Joe Hernandez Corona said about 10 people lived in the house, which was used to make fireworks.

He said the explosion caused structural damage to five other houses and cracked walls or broke windows in others.

Puebla, about 65 miles southeast of Mexico City, is a factory and tourist center of about 1.4 million people.

Nuevo Progreso -- Mexico
Fireworks blast kills one

2002 -- Fireworks caused a massive explosion at a house near the U.S. border Tuesday, killing the home's owner and injuring 12 people, including seven children.

The blast destroyed the home of a man, flattened several other houses nearby, and damaged a half-dozen homes in the town of Nuevo Progreso, the civil defense department said in a news release. The man was killed in the explosion.

Texans living as far as 10 miles away felt the blast, Texas media reported.

The 12 injured included seven children between the ages of 1 and 12 years old.

Authorities did not provide details as to the amount of fireworks in the house and did not say what caused the fireworks to explode.

Explosions at clandestine fireworks storehouses have cost dozens of lives in Mexico in recent years. Small-scale manufacturers frequently violate the country's safety regulations.