Off the wire
Chicago agricultural commodities close slightly lower  • UN chief highlights importance of health sector employment in sustainable development  • U.S. drone strikes kill 28 Al-Qaeda suspects in Yemen: Pentagon  • Monchengladbach appoint Hecking as new head coach  • U.S. stocks extend losses amid economic data  • UN food agency forced to curtail food aid in CAR without urgent influx of funding  • Aussie dollar continues slide on industrial metal weakness  • U.S. President-elect Trump names top aid Kellyanne Conway as counselor to president  • Portugal's PM says compensating commercial paper investors "vital" for market confidence  • UN chief reiterates call for peaceful power transfer in Gambia  
You are here:   Home

Mexico's fireworks-market tragedy death toll reaches 35

Xinhua, December 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

The death toll from Tuesday's explosion at a fireworks market in central Mexico rose to 35 on Thursday, as two of those hospitalized succumbed to their injuries.

Among the latest fatal victims was Pamela Romero, 13, who had burns over 90 percent of her body.

Her mother, Ericka Villanueva, 38, was killed in the blast at the San Pablito Fireworks Market in Tultepec, in the central State of Mexico.

Some 36 people remain hospitalized, four in serious condition.

Due to the extent of the injuries, identifying the victims has not been easy, and two bodies remained unidentified, the state's government secretary, Jose Manzur, said in an update to the tragedy that has cast a pall over Christmas celebrations in Mexico.

Authorities have yet to determine the cause of the explosion, but have said they suspect a rocket ignited at one of the market's 300 stalls, sparking a chain reaction that destroyed virtually the entire complex. Enditem