At least 26 dead in Mexico fireworks market blast: official

[MEXICO CITY] A massive explosion that gutted Mexico's biggest fireworks market on Tuesday left at least 26 dead, an official said.

"We recovered 26 bodies at the scene of the incident" in the Mexico City suburb of Tultepec, Mexico state prosecutor Alejandro Gomez told reporters at the site.

The conflagration, in the suburb of Tultepec, set off a quickfire series of multicoloured blasts and a vast cloud of smoke that hung over Mexico City. Federal police said on Twitter that at least 70 people were injured.

The military was deployed to help emergency crews transport casualties to hospitals by ambulance and helicopter.

The governor of Mexico state, Eruviel Avila, said on Twitter that the priority was to "tend to the injured." "The sound of blasts started to go off and we thought it was a nearby fireworks workshop," local resident Alejandra Pretel told AFP.

But minutes later it became evident that it was the market being destroyed.

"My neighbours said they felt everything shake, but I didn't realize because I was running away," she said.

AFP