MEXICO CITY (AP) — A gas tanker truck exploded under a highway overpass in Mexico City Wednesday, sending flames and smoke billowing into the air, burning more than a dozen cars and injuring 18 people, authorities said.
Images circulated online by authorities showed a mass of flames coming from a truck, while other videos on social media show dozens of people screaming and running from the explosion. The videos show two men whose entire bodies appeared to have suffered burns, with tattered clothing melded onto skin, as emergency vehicles sped by.
Mexico City’s government confirmed that at least 18 people had been injured. An empty passenger bus was also burned alongside the gas tanker.
The city’s mayor Clara Brugada arrived to the scene of the explosion shortly after to accompany emergency teams, including firefighters and medics. Fire fighters were pouring water on the flames billowing from the gas tanker.
The explosion occurred on one of the most important thoroughfares flowing out of the country's capital on the way to the city of Puebla. The city's government said the roadway would be closed until further notice.