Celaya -- Mexico
killing at least 56 people and injuring 348
-- The security guard had just dragged two women from the wreckage of a
mammoth fireworks explosion when a second blast catapulted him into the asphalt 20 feet
away.
The series of explosions -- at least three -- tore
through a busy area of street stalls and shops near a downtown bus station in this central
industrial town late Sunday, killing at least 56 people and injuring 348 -- many of them
rescuers, like Hector Lara, who rushed to help the victims.
''The smoke turned everything black. There were
things flying through the air and falling on top of me,'' the 21-year-old Lara said from
his hospital bed, his face covered with purplish-black welts.
The blast was thought to have started in the back of
a candy store where fireworks were sold, then more explosions were set off, possibly from
gas tanks in nearby restaurants or other fireworks stashes.
Soldiers sealed off a large area of Celaya's
downtown as they searched for more bodies. Officials said they were digging cautiously for
fear of setting off unexploded powder.
Lara was guarding the main bus station when he heard
the first explosion. He ran across the busy commercial street to the rubble of what had
been a store, plunged into the dark smoke and began to pull out the injured.
''I saw a woman covered with blood, screaming that
her son was dead and that she wanted to go into the shop to find him,'' he said.
Lara called for an ambulance, then became a victim
himself. A second explosion minutes later threw him down the street and cut deep incisions
into his entire body.
Lara's colleagues and the paramedics who responded
to his call also fell victim to the explosion. As he recovered, a doctor told him one of
his colleagues had died.
State officials said the dead included a policeman,
two Red Cross workers, two firemen and a photographer for a local newspaper. The dead also
included four children, according to the government news agency Notimex.
Some concrete buildings had their fronts blown off.
The streets were piled with debris and bodies as fire fighters sprayed water on the
remnants of the fire caused by the blasts.
Electricity was cut to the city center, and gasoline
sales were halted at several stations, local reporters said.
Eighty-one of the injured remained hospitalized
overnight, many with partially amputated limbs and severe burns. Rescue workers and
doctors were called in from as far away as Mexico City, 120 miles to the southwest.
''We don't have any hope of finding any more
survivors. Just bodies,'' fire Capt. Francisco Estrada said on local television. ''There
are probably many more under the rubble.''
At the Surgical Medical Center in downtown Celaya,
relatives held vigils in the parking lot and outside hospital rooms while others wandered
through the hallways looking for anyone who could help them locate a missing family
member.
In room 19, firefighter Gerardo Arellano, 36, was
missing most of his right leg. His wife, Irena Yerena, stood outside the door.
''The pain is back and his blood pressure is
starting to rise,'' she said.
Her eyes filled with tears.
-- Rescue
workers and residents flee as a fourth explosion sounds at a market area in downtown
Celaya, Mexico, Sunday, Sept. 27, 1999. At least 56 people were killed when a series of
explosions erupted, sparked by a supply of gunpowder used for making fireworks.
-- Families
arrive to identify bodies early Monday, Sept. 27, 1999, after a series of blasts tore
through a busy area of street stalls and shops near a downtown bus station in the central
industrial town of Celaya, Mexico, late Sunday, killing at least 56 people and injuring
348. The blast was thought to have started in the back of a candy store where fireworks
were sold.
Celaya -- Mexico
-- A series
of explosions ripped through a crowded area of street stalls and shops across from a
downtown bus station Sunday in the central Mexican city of Celaya, killing about 50
people, authorities said.
Media reports said the tragedy apparently began when
a fireworks storehouse exploded about 10:30 a.m. A few minutes later there was a second
large blast, which some reports said was caused by exploding cooking gas tanks at a nearby
restaurant and other reports blamed on more exploding fireworks.
The second explosion apparently trapped some
rescuers who responded to the first blast.
"It's a very big tragedy," Mayor Ricardo
Suarez said in an interview with the national TV Azteca network.
State spokesman Francisco Aguilar said 50 people
were confirmed dead and 76 others injured. Troops were called in to help police evacuate
residents and to seal off an eight-block area around the explosions as rescue workers
searched for more victims in this industrial city 120 miles northwest of Mexico City.
Among those reported dead were a police officer, two
Red Cross workers, two fire fighters, a local reporter and four children.
Electricity was cut to the city center, and gasoline
sales were halted at several stations.
Residents feared the possibility of more explosions
in the area, still hot from the fire, because of the presence of numerous clandestine
fireworks factories, local reporter Rafael Pinzon told Mexico City's Formato 21 radio
station.
Celaya -- Mexico
Death count could reach 100
-- On Sunday
September 26, at 10:30 a.m., an explosion ripped through a local market area and a section
of businesses. The four blasts created a war-zone effect, with wrecked cars, tons of
debris, and the death toll rose to 56. "The chances of survivors are remote, but none
the less we are doing everything that we can," says Sebastian Barrera. "In fact,
through the night, there were people with dogs searching and there were no signs of
life." He also says, "The danger will not totally be removed until we clear the
debris."
Authorities haven’t reached a conclusion as to
how it started, why it was done, or who did it, but they suspect the first blast was
started in the back of a candy store.
Many medical doctors were called from as far away as
Mexico City, 120 miles Southwest of Celaya. 348 of the victims survived the blast, but
many were sent home with cuts, burns, and bruises. Officials say the death count could
reach 100. "We don’t have any hope of finding anymore survivors…just
bodies," says Captain Francisco Estrada."There are probably more under the
rubble."
The first explosion occurred at an illegal fireworks
depot, while people were buying food at the local market. It destroyed the market and the
bus station, reducing them to ruins.Twenty minutes later the gas tank in a restaurant was
engulfed in flames, causing a second blast. Two other blasts took place later, leaving
more and more dead. "I saw a woman covered with blood, screaming that her son was
dead, and that she wanted to go in the shop and find him," says Barrera. The total
dead included four children, among other victims of the devastating explosion.
Sunday night at a sports hall dead bodies were
spread out so that people could find their lost loved-ones who died in the tragic
explosions. Jesus Matehuala, who lost his son and son-in-law says, "It was like a
living hell."
Celaya -- Mexico
Mexican rescue teams race to the scene of the blast
-- A
fireworks explosion that triggered other blasts killed at least 56 people in an industrial
town northwest of Mexico City, Mexican officials said Monday.
The blasts tore through a busy area of street stalls
and shops late Sunday in Celaya, 200 kilometers (120 miles) northeast of Mexico City.
Another 348 were reported injured by the explosions.
Witnesses said the first blast occurred in the back
of a candy store where fireworks were sold. The explosion caused a fire that caused
cooking gas tanks of nearby restaurants to explode a few minutes later.
Some rescuers who had responded to the first blast
were apparently trapped by the second wave of explosions.
Soldiers sealed off a large area of Celaya's
downtown late Sunday as they searched for more bodies. Officials said they were digging
cautiously for fear of setting off unexploded powder.
Among those reported dead were a policeman, two Red
Cross workers, two firefighters and a local reporter. The dead also included four
children, according to the state news agency Notimex.
"The smoke turned everything black. There were
things flying through the air and falling on top of me," 21-year-old Security guard
Hector Lara said.
Lara worked at the town's bus station. He had just
dragged two women from the wreckage of the first explosion when a second blast catapulted
him into the asphalt 20 feet away.
Eighty-one of the injured remained hospitalized
overnight, many with partially amputated limbs and severe burns. Rescue workers and
doctors were called in from as far away as Mexico City
"We don't have any hope of finding any more
survivors, just bodies," fire Capt. Francisco Estrada told local television.
Celaya -- Mexico
Fireworks disaster was no surprise
-- Jesus
Garcia was terrified and heartbroken to see the bustling commercial district where he has
a shoe store transformed by a powerful fireworks explosion into a bloodstained heap of
metal, brick and glass.
But he was not surprised.
Garcia and many other business owners who sold
everything from shoes and electronics to tacos and rugs in the center of this industrial
city say they knew they were sitting on a powder keg waiting to explode -- and authorities
knew it, too.
"He had a sign right out there saying he sold
the fireworks," said Garcia's wife, Blanca Resendiz, referring to the owner of the
combination candy shop-fireworks store that authorities believe was the source of the
first of three deadly explosions Sunday.
The blasts killed at least 56 people, including four
children and three firefighters, and injured more than 340.
Mexico has seen at least a dozen fatal fireworks
explosions over the past 11 years, but Sunday's was the deadliest since a 1988 blast at
Mexico City's main La Merced marketplace killed 68 people. The accident prompted officials
to tighten controls on fireworks in the capital.
Rescue workers continued to scrape through the
rubble yesterday, focusing on places where search dogs indicated there might be bodies. No
additional bodies were found Sunday night.
Guanajuato Gov. Ramon Martin said the area remained
cordoned off because of the continued potential danger of additional explosions. Rescue
workers had begun gingerly lifting the roof of the store from the ground with cranes, and
they feared that more explosives lay underneath. Some reports have estimated that there
were as many as 4 tons of fireworks stored in the shop.
A Mass was said yesterday afternoon for rescue
workers who died in the explosion. In the eight-block area where authorities worked, angry
business owners gathered to gaze at the destruction they said could have been prevented.
Celaya
