Veracruz, Mexico – Eight people were killed and nine others injured Tuesday when a fuel tanker exploded in the Mexican Gulf coast port of Coatzacoalcos, the country’s state-owned oil company said.
Pemex said the blast occurred at 1:19 p.m. (1819 GMT) when a stray spark ignited residual gas during repairs on the tanker Quetzalcoatl.
Sources at the state-owned firm told EFE the dead included three Pemex employees, three workers from maintenance subcontractor Lopez y Garcia and two other people who had yet to be identified.
“The ship was emptied of fuel and out of commission for maintenance at the time of the repair work,” Pemex said in a statement, adding that the nine people injured in the explosion were being treated at a company clinic and a nearby hospital.
Civil defense officials from Veracruz state had joined Pemex managers and port authority personnel at the site of the blast “to monitor the situation,” the statement said.
Pemex has been plagued in recent years by accidents, several of which have resulted in casualties or damaging fuel spills. EFE
