A RUPTURED pipeline exploded in a fireball killing at least 20 people and injuring 71 others in Mexico as they were trying to fill up containers with leaking fuel.
Dramatic images show the pipeline going up in flames as victims scream out for help.
The leak was caused by fuel thieves illegally tapping the pipeline in a small town in the state of Hidalgo, according to state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex.
It came just three weeks after new President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador launched an offensive against fuel theft.
Gangs have drilled dangerous, illegal taps into pipelines an astounding 12,581 times in the first 10 months of 2018, an average of about 42 per day.
The leak on Friday was caused by an illegal pipeline tap in the small town of Tlahuelilpan, about 62 miles (100 kilometers) north of Mexico City, according to state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex.
Video footage showed dozens of residents gathering in a field as a geyser of fuel spouted dozens of feet into the air from the tap.
Footage then showed flames shooting high into the air against a night sky and the pipeline ablaze. Screaming people ran from the flames, some themselves burning and waving their arms.
Hidalgo Gov. Omar Fayad said 21 people were killed immediately and 71 suffered burns in the blast at the duct that carries fuel – apparently gasoline – from the Gulf coast to Tula, a city just north of Mexico City.
Pemex attributed the blaze to “the manipulation of an illegal tap.”
Hidalgo state police said the leak was first reported at about 5pm local time.
“There was a report that residents were on the scene trying to obtain fuel,” according to a police report. Two hours later, the pipeline burst into flames.
And another pipeline burst into flames in the neighboring state of Queretaro on Friday, because of another illegal tap. Pemex said the fire near the city of San Juan del Rio was “in an unpopulated area and there is no risk to human beings.”
In December 2010, authorities blamed oil thieves for a pipeline explosion in a central Mexico near the capital that killed 28 people, including 13 children.
That blast burned people and scorched homes, affecting 5,000 residents in an area six miles (10 kilometers) wide in San Martin Texmelucan.
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The blast will further focus attention on Lopez Obrador’s fight against the $3 billion per-year illegal fuel theft industry.
“I greatly lament the grave situation Tlahuelilpan is suffering because of the explosion of the duct,” Lopez Obrador tweeted. He called on all branches of government to assist the victims.
He launched the offensive after taking office Dec. 1, deploying 3,200 marines to guard pipelines and refineries. His administration also shut down pipelines to detect and deter illegal taps, relying more on delivering fuel by tanker truck. There aren’t enough trucks, however, and long lines at gas stations have plagued several states.
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News Photo Mexico pipeline explodes killing 20 and injuring 71 after fuel thieves try to steal leaking gas
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