Thousands evacuated after Pemex gasoline leak in western Mexico
Baku, October 31 (AZERTAC). A geyser of gasoline spewed into the sky from a state-owned pipeline in western Mexico, forcing officials to evacuate about 5,000 people Wednesday. Authorities blamed the accident on fuel thieves tapping into the pipe.
Gasoline plumed above a field close to a housing development in Tlajomulco, a town near Guadalajara, which is Mexico’s second-largest city and the capital of Jalisco state.
The fuel did not catch fire, and crews were able to shut down the flow of gasoline in the pipeline, which was leaking about 150 yards (meters) from some homes. There were no reports of injuries.
“There’s a lot of odour of gasoline in the entire area,” Jalisco state Interior Secretary Arturo Zamora said, adding that the evacuation area was “approximately in a radius of 1 kilometre (half mile).”
On its Twitter account, the state-owned Petroleos Mexicanos oil company, known as Pemex, wrote that the leak “was caused by a clandestine tap.”
Emergency personnel erected a sand-bag barrier around the leak to contain the gasoline and prevent it from contaminating more soil or entering storm drains. In 1992, gasoline leaked into Guadalajara’s drains and ignited, effectively creating a bomb 6 miles (10 kilometres) long that demolished 1,000 homes and killed at least 210 people.
Pemex said it closed the nearest valves to isolate the leak and reduce pressure. Jalisco Gov. Aristoteles Sandoval said later that the leak “is now 100 per cent controlled.”
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