No deaths reported in Mexico pipeline blast: official
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - No deaths were reported after a fuel pipeline exploded in southern Mexico, an emergency services official said on Thursday, adding that a fire triggered by the blast was under control.
Mexican state oil firm Pemex is investigating the incident that occurred in one of its pipelines in southern Chiapas state, a company spokesperson said.
David Leon, Mexico's head of emergency services, said the pipeline burst late on Wednesday in the Reforma municipality of Chiapas. The fire had yet to be extinguished but was under control, he said.
"I don't have any reports that human life was lost," he told Mexican television station Milenio.
Two incinerated cars were found at the blast site, Reforma mayor Herminio Valdez told Milenio. They were likely being used to transport stolen fuel, he said.
In January, at least 117 people died when a Pemex pipeline exploded in the state of Hidalgo shortly after President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador launched a crackdown on rampant fuel theft, ordering pipelines closed in an effort to stamp out criminal activity.
(Reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez, Writing by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by David Alire Garcia and James Dalgleish)
