PHOTOSPEAKS

Over 15 Dead And More Than 150 Injured After Fireworks Truck Exploded During A Church Procession

Published

12 years ago

March 16, 2013

A truck loaded with fireworks exploded during a religious procession in a rural village in central Mexico, killing at least 13 people and injuring 154, authorities said. The blast Friday was set off when a firework malfunctioned and landed on the truck, igniting the fireworks it carried.

They were in a procession, they were shooting off rockets and it exploded and fell onto the other ones,’ said Jose Mateo Morales, director of the Tlaxcala state civil protection department.

‘It was very serious.’

Human remains and burned clothes were spread around a 100-yard (100-meter) radius, including on rooftops, a photographer at the scene said.

The victims were marching in an annual procession in honor of Jesus Christ, the patron saint of Jesus Tepactepec, a village of about 1,000 people.