25 Dead in Mexico City Blast

Scores more injured in explosion at oil company Pemex
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jan 31, 2013 7:02 PM CST
14 Dead in Mexico City Blast
Firefighters dig for survivors after the explosion.   (Guillermo Gutierrez)

An explosion at the main headquarters of Mexico's state-owned oil company in the capital today killed 25 people and injured 101, officials say; 46 remain hospitalized. The blast occurred in the basement of an administrative building next to the iconic, 52-story tower of Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, in Mexico City. The cause is unclear.

"It was an explosion, a shock, the lights went out and suddenly there was a lot of debris," employee Cristian Obele told Milenio television. "Co-workers helped us get out of the building." The tower, where several thousand people work, was evacuated. The main floor and the mezzanine of the auxiliary building, where the explosion occurred, were heavily damaged, along with windows as far as three floors up. (More Mexico stories.)

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