On an otherwise normal working day, a petrochemical plant in the south-Mexican city of Veracruz was left devastated after a massive blast rocked it. Twenty-four employees were left dead, while another 130 were seriously injured by Thursday. However, the authorities have been unable to specify the cause for the blast as of now.
Grieving relatives of the killed workers gathered at the gates of the plant, demanding clear answers from the management of Pemex, the firm that ran the plant. Some of them reportedly tried to push their way through security.
A distraught mother, Rosa Villalobos, who couldn’t locate her son, an employee of the plant, at the hospital for hours, said, ” What I want is for justice to be done in my son’s case, for there to be no impunity. I’m going to stay here. Even though I have no money, even though I have nothing to eat, I’m staying put.” Others like her said that they were ‘desperate’ because representatives were not willing to come forth and talk to them apart from advising them to leave.
Ancelma Cordero, whose brother is missing, commented, ” They told us we were breathing toxins and we should leave. But if we leave, they could make the bodies disappear.”
President Enrique Pena Nieto of Mexico, who called it a ‘tragic accident’, visited the grounds of the shattered plant late on Thursday. Meanwhile, Director Jose Gonzalez Anaya of Pemex, the state-run oil firm, asserted that the explosion was instigated by a leak. He further informed that they were unsure of the cause of the leak itself. \
The gargantuan explosion that struck at around 15:15 local time, was said to have been felt withing a 6-mile radius of the epicentre and several families had to vacate their homes, according to Veracruz state Governor, Javier Duarte.
Although only 10 bodies were discovered initially by Mexico’s emergency services, the casualties gradually rose to 24 by Thursday while several other employees are yet to be discovered, as per the head of the emergency services, Luis Felipe Puente.
Authorities had asked citizens to remain indoors until the nature of the smoke could be deemed safe. However, the smoke had dissipated soon and there was a little chance of it being toxic.
The ruined plant specialized in the production of a chemical, vinyl chloride, used further in the production of PVC pipes and packaging material and dangerous in itself.
Source (Story and Images): BBC
Tags: Enrique Pena Nieto Javier Duarte Mexico Pemex
