Mexico gas plant fire kills 26

MEXICO CITY - At least 26 people were killed and several others injured Tuesday when fire broke out at a gas plant owned by state-run energy giant Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) in Cuenca de Burgos, 16 kilometers from Reynosa city, in Mexico's northeastern state of Tamaulipas.

Burnt cars and gas storage tanks are seen at a gas facility of Pemex in Reynosa, Sept 18, 2012. Ten people were killed in a fire that broke out at a gas facility of Mexican state oil monopoly Pemex in the northern state of Tamaulipas. [Photo/Agencies]

Pemex said in a statement that the fire started Tuesday at 11 am local time (1600 GMT) and was extinguished by Pemex and municipal firefighters about an hour and 40 minutes later (1740 GMT).

The fire occurred at the company's Exploration and Production Division's Gas and Condensed Gas Reception Center, located on a highway linking Reynosa to Monterrey, capital of northern Nuevo Leon state.

Tamaulipas Civil Protection Coordination evacuated residents living within a five-kilometer radius of the gas plant.

One of the injured workers told local media that about 700 people worked at the plant.

Initial reports said 10 people were killed and more than 40 workers injured or sustained minor burns, but the death toll rose to 26 by late afternoon.

Pemex has put in force emergency measures, including shutting off valves at gas ducts.

Technical experts from Pemex's Exploration and Production Division are looking into what caused the fire and assessing damages to the facility.

According to figures from Tamaulipas Civil Protection Coordination, this is the fourth fire at a Pemex facility in the past month.

Soldiers walk outside a gas facility of Pemex in Reynosa, Sept 18, 2012. Ten people were killed in a fire that broke out at a gas facility of Mexican state oil monopoly Pemex in the northern state of Tamaulipas. [Photo/Agencies]