26 killed in Mexico fireworks market blast

At least 26 people were killed in a fireworks market explosion near Mexico City, an official said.

Mexico State Prosecutor Alejandro Gomez raised the toll of the Tuesday's blast from the previous nine deaths, Xinhua news agency reported citing a local television.

Earlier on Tuesday, Mexican federal police said on Twitter that at least nine persons were killed in an explosion Tuesday at the San Pablito fireworks market in Tultepec, a town close to the capital Mexico City.

At least 60 people were initially reported by Luis Felipe Puente, director of Civil Protection, to have been injured in the blast.

Firefighters and rescue teams from the state and capital converged at the site following the blast.

Images posted on social networks and news websites showed a thick column of grey smoke billowing high into the sky above the market.

In a video footage of the incident, apparently posted by a motorist driving by the scene, scores of firecrackers could be seen going off at once in different directions, as well as small explosions.

The injured were taken to different hospitals.

--IANS

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