Mexico City, Jan 19 : A leaking fuel pipeline triggered a massive blaze in central Mexico Saturday, killing at least 20 people and injuring another 54, officials said.
Omar Fayad, governor of Hidalgo state, said locals at the site of the leak were scrambling to steal some of the leaking oil when at least 20 of them were burned to death.
"I've been told that 20 have been burned to death and another 54 burn victims being treated" in hospitals, Fayad told local FaroTV, with the blaze still raging
Scores of locals were collecting fuel in buckets and cans from spouting leaks, and making off with the stolen gasoline, local media showed.
"What we know is that it was an illegal fuel theft site, and that authorities were aware of it" when it burned, Fayed added.
Hours later, and after sundown, the first images of the tragedy were shown on television, with desperate people fleeing the scene, screaming for help.
Federal and state firefighters and ambulances run by state oil giant Pemex were headed to the area to help burn victims, the governor added.
The tragedy comes just as anti-corruption crusader President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador launches his national fuel theft prevention plan.
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Mandya (PTI): Three members of a family, two of them women, were killed when the car they were travelling in overturned and fell into a ditch on Sunday, police said.
The driver lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a bridge on the Bengaluru-Mangaluru National Highway at Nagamangala in Mandya district, police added.
The deceased were identified as Chandregowda (62) and Sarojamma (57), both residents of Chikkamagaluru. They were returning to their hometown when the accident occurred, police sources said.
In another incident near Agaralinganna Doddi in Maddur taluk, a private bus overturned on a service road, injuring more than 30 people. Locals helped rescue the passengers after the accident.
The passengers were travelling to Bengaluru after visiting the Shimsha Maramma temple in Malavalli. The injured were taken to hospitals in Mandya and Maddur for treatment.
