Over 1,300 people evacuated due to gas leak in Mexico
Mexico City, Sep 13 : A gas leak in the Mexican state of Puebla forced the evacuation early on Wednesday of more than 1,300 people across seven neighbourhoods in the like-named capital, officials said.
The gas leak was caused by a clandestine tap in Puebla city on a gas pipeline belonging to state-owned oil giant Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex).
Authorities reported that among the evacuees were as many as 190 patients from a local hospital.
The neighbourhoods endangered by the leak are Vicente Guerrero, Villa Frontera, Colonia San Pedro, Villas del Marquez, Villas de San Gregorio, Revolucion Mexicana and Venustiano Carranza, Efe reported.
The affected families had trouble leaving the emergency zone due to a shortage of public transportation in the area.
The strong gas odor, which was detected at around 4:30 am in the area known as "Camino a Tlaltenongo," prompted emergency management office personnel, firefighters and Pemex workers to activate their emergency protocols.
Pemex personnel shut off the valve located in the neighboring state of Tlaxcala, but the leftover concentration of gas within the pipes remained flowing out for several hours.
Municipal authorities suspended classes in 17 local schools.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
