Attempts to steal fuel from Mexican pipeline set off massive fireball, killing at least 66

Mexico pipeline blast kills dozens, authorities blame fuel thieves

Dozens of people were killed and many more injured when a pipeline ruptured by suspected fuel thieves exploded in central Mexico. (Reuters)

MEXICO CITY — At least 66 people were killed when a fuel pipeline exploded outside Mexico City, unleashing a massive fireball after residents tapped into the duct to steal buckets of gasoline, officials said Saturday.

The explosion late Friday occurred in the midst of the Mexican government’s campaign against oil theft, which costs the country about $3 billion per year. Earlier this month, Mexico’s new president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, closed many of the country’s pipelines, saddling dozens of cities with an acute gasoline shortage.

The governor of Hidalgo state, Omar Fayad, said Saturday the death toll had risen to at least 66.

López Obrador rushed to the state of Hidalgo, where the explosion occurred, about 60 miles north of Mexico City.

“We are appalled by these events, by this tragedy and we want, first of all, to offer our deepest condolences to the families of the victims, to inform the families of the victims that the entire government is with them,” he said.