Death Toll from Explosion at Mexican Fireworks Market Rises to 32

A total of 47 people remain hospitalized after the explosion.

ByABC News
December 21, 2016, 6:31 PM

— -- The death toll from an explosion at a Mexican fireworks market Tuesday has risen to 32, according to government officials.

Jose Manzur, General Secretary of the State of Mexico government, said 26 people died at the site -- the San Pablito Market in Tultepec -- and another six people died at the hospital. More than 70 people were injured in blasts, and 47 remained in the hospital as of Wednesday afternoon.

Two minors -- a 13-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl -- were transferred to hospitals in Galveston, Texas for treatment, according to Roberto Lopez, Director of Fundación Michou y Mau Para Ninos Quemados. Three more minors, ages 16, 13 and 6, will be transferred to Galveston when they're conditions are stable enough for them to be moved, Lopez said.

On Wednesday, investigators continued to comb through the wreckage of homes destroyed in the explosion.

    PHOTO: Investigators work amidst the wreckage of houses destroyed in an explosion at the San Pablito fireworks market outside the Mexican capital in Tultepec, Mexico Dec. 21, 2016.
    Investigators work amidst the wreckage of houses destroyed in an explosion at the San Pablito fireworks market outside the Mexican capital in Tultepec, Mexico Dec. 21, 2016.

    Last week, the city of Tultepec, which is north of Mexico City, released a statement calking the market "among the safest fireworks markets in Latin America.

    Dramatic video showed thick clouds of smoke billowing form the scene as a series of fireworks appeared to go off at once.

    It was not immediately clear how the explosion started.

    A similar fire engulfed the same fireworks market in 2005, sparking a chain of explosions that leveled hundreds of stalls, The Associated Press reported. A similar fire at the San Pablito Market also destroyed hundreds of stands in 2006, according to The AP.

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