What to Know
- Mexican-Americans in the tri-state are reeling after an explosion at a fireworks market in Mexico City killed dozens and wounded many more
- Families had been stocking up for Christmas and New Year's celebrations with the blast tore through the popular market
- The cause of the explosion is unknown; rescue crews were still looking for survivors on Tuesday night
A large explosion at a fireworks market north of Mexico City Tuesday killed dozens of people and injured scores more -- a devastating event that reverberated through Mexican-American communities in the tri-state.
At least 29 people were killed in the Tultepec blast and more than 70 other people were injured, some of them badly burned.
In Sunset Park, residents were calling friends and family in Mexico to make sure they were alright.
“I actually grew up in Mexico City myself, and to hear those kinds of things hurts me,” Gissel Vidal said.
Families were at the fireworks market, Mexico’s most popular, to stock up on supplies for Christmas and New Year’s when the powerful explosion leveled rows and rows of vendor stands and sent smoke billowing into the air.
“I feel sad for the people and families who live there,” Chris Flores said.
Local
To hear that more than a dozen of the surviving victims are children, some suffering burns over 90 percent of their body, is devastating to Alfred Moran.
“My heart goes out to them. It’s not easy to hear things like that, because you can only imagine what they went through,” Moran said.
Rescuers were still searching for survivors in the charred remains of the market on Tuesday night as a forensic team headed to the site to determine how it all happened.
