Death toll rises to three in Mexico City hospital gas blast
Xinhua, January 31, 2015 Adjust font size:
Death toll rose to three and the injured exceeded 70 in the gas blast happening Thursday at a maternity and children's hospital in Mexico City, the capital of Mexico, authorities confirmed Friday.
The dead were a nurse and two infants. Of the 72 people injured in the blast and admitted to hospitals, 33 were discharged within 24 hours. Eighteen of the hospitalized remained in intensive care, including nine infants, according to Mexico City Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera, who visited the site of the blast.
The explosion occurred at 7:15 a.m. Thursday when a gas delivery truck was supplying the kitchen of the hospital located in Mexico City's western Cuajimalpa district. The powerful blast toppled some 70 percent of the hospital.
Officials said that a gas leak sparked the explosion, but the exact cause has yet to be determined.
The gas company that owns the truck, Gas Express Nieto, issued a statement late Thursday saying it was cooperating with authorities and that it "complies with regulations, including ( having) an insurance policy for civil liabilities." It added it " deeply regretted the incident."
The three truck operators, who were the injured in the blast, were consigned to the attorney general's office, according to Mancera. Endite