At least 20 people killed in pipeline explosion in Mexico

MEXICO CITY, (Patria) - At least twenty people were killed and 54 injured on Friday when an oil pipeline exploded in Mexico where people were trying to fill their containers with oil.

A fire, which is still not under control, broke out near the Tula refinery in the Tlahuelilpan district, where oil had spilled several hours earlier, attracting people who wanted to collect the spilled oil.

Television footage shows people collecting oil with canisters as it spilled in streams from the pipeline. Later footage shows the pipeline engulfed in flames and people screaming and calling for help.

"According to initial reports, which are very serious, twenty people were killed and 54 injured, with severe burns," said the governor of the state of Hidalgo, Omar Fayad.

"There are many injured. Many," he added.

This incident occurred at a time when the new president, Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador, launched a national strategy against oil theft, from which Mexico lost about three billion dollars in the last two years.