Thursday’s gas explosion at a Mexico maternity hospital claimed two lives, Mexico City’s mayor said, correcting earlier official statements with a higher death toll.
Officials also announced the detentions of three workers who were delivering gas to the hospital.
A mix-up between the number of those deceased and those seriously injured led to the incorrect reports of deaths, Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera said.
One of the fatalities was a woman, the other a child, said Adrian Rubalcava, the government chief in the district where the hospital is located.
Still, there are fears that more babies and adults may be trapped in the debris of the hospital, which was on the verge of collapsing after the explosion, according to government and emergency officials.
Some 37 injuries have been reported, according to Mexico City’s Civil Protection agency.
A truck was supplying gas to the hospital when apparently a hose burst and the resulting leak caused an explosion, Mancera said.
The gas in question is known as liquefied petroleum gas, a mix that could be mostly propane or mostly butane. These propane/butane mixes are commonly used in Mexico for heating, cooking and other fuel applications.
The driver and two assistants delivering the gas to the hospital have been detained, the mayor’s office told CNNMexico. Two of the detained workers are hospitalized, and one is receiving other medical care, the office said.
The Red Cross reported that it provided 23 ambulances and more than 40 rescuers to the efforts. The agency said it transported nine babies to area hospitals.
Many others were being treated for cuts from flying glass after the blast, he said.
The Cuajimalpa Maternal Hospital is on the southwest outskirts of Mexico City. It was founded in 1993 and is part of the city’s government health system.
Photos from the scene show that the gas truck belongs to Gas Express Nieto, a gas provider among the four biggest gas distributors in Mexico, according to the company.
Gas Express did not immediately comment on the explosion. Its Twitter account is private, and its Facebook page appeared to have been taken offline.
One of the city’s publicly accessible webcams captured the blast, showing a plume of smoke rising from the direction of the hospital.
Some witnesses reported seeing a fire burning at the hospital. Mancera said it was a controlled fire designed to burn off the leaking gas from the delivery truck.
