One killed, 51 injured in Mexico factory blast

Mexico City  : At least one person was killed and 51 others were wounded in a candy factory blast in Ciudad Juarez city, capital of the Mexican state of Chihuahua, authorities said.

The Chihuahua state prosecutor’s office reported the death of a worker inside the Blueberry factory, located in the Industrial Park Benito Juarez bordering the US state of Texas, Xinhua reported Thursday.

The office said at least 51 people were injured, 10 of them seriously.

The explosion happened at around 2 p.m. local time and the injured were taken to nearby hospitals, said the Ciudad Juarez’s Mayor Enrique Serrano.

The city’s Civil Protection Director Fernando Mota said there are dozens of workers missing and they could be trapped inside the building.

“We regret the incident happened in Ciudad Juarez’s factory, relief units are transporting the wounded to hospitals,” said Chihuahua state’s Governor Cesar Duarte Jaquez in his Twitter post.

Media reports said an accumulation of gas led to the explosion of a boiler, causing the collapse of the second floor of the factory.