An explosion occurred yesterday in a fireworks market on Tultepec, in the northern outskirts of Mexico City, killed at least 31 people and injured more than 70. The fire destroyed over 80% of the market stalls.

More than a dozen children suffered burns to over 90% of their bodies and were being sent to the US city of Galveston in Texas for treatment, said Eruviel Avila, the governor of the state of Mexico, quoted in The Guardian. Avila vowed to find and punish those responsible for the blast and provide economic assistance to those who had lost their livelihoods.

Firework manufacture is one of the mainstays of the economy in Tultepec – often in clandestine workshops. The Christmas season is one of the busiest, as many Mexicans stock up on pyrotechnics.

Mexican authorities have tried for decades to control the fireworks industry and avoid this kind of disasters. 

The San Pablito market had suffered explosions previously. In 2005, the market ignited after a big explosion, injuring 128 vendors and customers. The market reopened the following year, but with more safety precautions. "It was the safest in Latin America", authorities said. 

As reported in Milenio.