[kellyhound]

A massive explosion at a clandestine liquefied petroleum gas storage site in Puebla, shook the San Juan Negrete neighborhood on Thursday morning, leaving 3 people injured and triggering the emergency evacuation of approximately 2,000 local residents.

The illicit facility, operating entirely without regulatory permits, went up in a towering fireball that shot thick black smoke and flames over 15 meters into the urban skyline, causing widespread panic.

The fire reportedly began in a single LPG tanker parked inside the warehouse before quickly spiraling out of control. The warehouse structure was completely reduced to rubble, and early impact assessments confirm that 83 nearby homes sustained varying degrees of structural damage.

Due to the immediate threat of toxic smoke inhalation and secondary blasts, local authorities completely evacuated the nearby Hospital, moving vulnerable patients to safer facilities.

Tepeaca sits directly inside Puebla’s notorious Triángulo Rojo, an area heavily impacted by illegal fuel tapping. Investigators heavily suspect the tankers were hauling black-market gas stolen from state pipelines.

Alarmingly, during the emergency sweep, authorities discovered a second clandestine warehouse storing illegal fuel just blocks away on the same property, highlighting the severe safety threats these hidden operations pose to local residential neighborhoods.

[Mr.NoCredit]

That’s a long day for a lot of people to be evacuated from their homes, businesses and the hospital. The logistics of all that are massive.