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Death toll from Mexico hospital gas blast climbs to 5

Xinhua, February 7, 2015 Adjust font size:

The death toll from last week's gas explosion at a maternity and children's hospital in Mexico City has climbed to five, Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera said Friday.

The latest victim, hospital employee Jorge Luis Tinoco, 27, died of his wounds early Friday at a local hospital.

"I regret the death of stretcher bearer Jorge Luis Tinoco," Mancera said via Twitter. "The city acknowledges his dedication and bravery."

Tinoco was helping to evacuate newborns minutes following the fatal Jan. 29 blast, sparked by a gas delivery truck with a faulty hose.

The blast occurred at 7:15 a.m. (1315 GMT) local time in the city's western Cuajimalpa district as the truck was fuelling the hospital's kitchen.

The blast was so powerful that it toppled some 70 percent of the hospital, claimed the lives of a nurse and an infant instantly and left more than 70 people injured with burns and cuts from flying shards of glass.

Also on Friday, Mexico City's Supreme Court was expected to officially charge the driver of the truck, Carlos Chavez Hernandez, who remained hospitalized, with manslaughter, Mexico's Azteca TV channel reported on its website. Enditem