Mexico Explosion Video And Photos: Deaths, Injuries Reported At Tultepec Fireworks Market

UPDATED: 6:40 p.m. EST — The death toll from an explosion at an open air fireworks market in Mexico has risen to at least 27 people, the director of civil protection in Tultepec announced. A local journalist tweeted in Spanish that Isidro Sánchez told FOROtv about the number of dead. At least 60 people were injured in the massive blast, Reuters reported.

Tultepec is known for its fireworks, including those it makes to help celebrate the Mexican holiday San Juan de Dios, which is also known as the festival of fire, according to Yahoo News. The city is commonly referred to locally as the "fireworks capital."

Original story:

An explosion at a fireworks market in northwestern Mexico killed at least 10 people and injured as many as 70 more Tuesday afternoon, according to a tweet in Spanish from local news outlet Reformacom. Among those injured in the city of Tultepec was a pregnant woman, local news outlet Televisa reported.

The blast sent plumes of smoke billowing into the air that was visible for miles as emergency responders arrived to San Pablito Market, which operates out in the open.

While the cause of the explosion was not immediately announced, the gunpowder used to make the fireworks reportedly contributed to the strong blast, according to the Reformacom tweet.

Video footage and pictures of the massive explosion quickly emerged on social media. One video showed the moments leading up the explosion, complete with panicked people fleeing the market. The blast can be seen in the background as people ran for their lives.

The explosion took place about 2:20 p.m. local time in Tultepec, which is just north of Mexico City, according to local news outlet El Universal. The national civil defense coordinator of the interior ministry told another local news outlet that his priority was to make sure everybody was safe, the BBC reported.

"The most important thing is to serve people in place, turn the incident and then make a list of people who have been injured or notice any dead people," Luis Felipe Puente said.

Tultepec is known for its fireworks, including those it makes to help celebrate the Mexican holiday San Juan de Dios, which is also known as the festival of fire, according to Yahoo News. The city is commonly referred to locally as the "fireworks capital."

San Pablito Market, which has more than 300 stalls from which vendors operate and sell their wares all year round, experienced two similar infernos more than a decade. Fire ignited fireworks and led to multiple explosions both in 2005 and 2006, the Associated Press reported.