Debris of destroyed vehicles is seen at an explosion site in Nayarit, Mexico, Nov. 16, 2020. A tanker truck transporting liquefied gas exploded on Monday morning, killing at least 13 people in west Mexico’s state of Nayarit, local officials said. (Xinhua)

MEXICO CITY, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) — A tanker truck transporting liquefied gas exploded on Monday morning, killing at least 13 people in west Mexico’s state of Nayarit, local officials said.

According to a report from the Nayarit Attorney General’s Office, the truck crashed and exploded along the highway linking the state capital Tepic with Guadalajara, in western Jalisco state.

The blast impacted three other vehicles, in which authorities found the bodies of 12 people, while a third body found on the tarmac is suspected of belonging to the driver or copilot of the tanker.

“The explosion reached an area of around two hectares, in which four vehicles … were totally damaged: a tanker truck, two compact vehicles and a truck,” the report said.

The Nayarit Security and Citizen Protection Secretariat issued a statement saying preliminary information indicates the truck was traveling towards Guadalajara when it lost control, overturned and exploded near Jala, a town in southern Nayarit, near its border with Jalisco.

Video footage broadcast by a local television station showed the blast produced a huge column of fire and later black smoke, as people scrambled out of their vehicles to run to safety.

Nayarit officials said rescuers took a 31-year-old woman to a hospital in Tepic after she suffered severe burns to her body.

UPDATE

MEXICO CITY, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) — The death toll from a gas truck explosion earlier this week in western Mexico’s Nayarit state rose to 15 after the sole survivor of the tragedy died in the hospital, local officials said on Saturday.

The Nayarit State Attorney General’s Office said it was notified early in the day of the death of the woman, who had been convalescing from severe burns at a hospital in Tepic, capital of Nayarit.

A tanker truck transporting liquefied gas exploded Monday morning after overturning on the highway connecting Tepic with the city of Guadalajara, capital of neighboring Jalisco state, along a stretch of road in the town of Jala.

“The prosecutor’s office was notified of the … death of Mayra Avilene Elizalde Partida, who was the only survivor of the event on the Tepic-Guadalajara highway on Nov. 16, which brings the fatalities to 15,” the agency posted on social media.

According to official reports, most of the victims of the explosion were passengers in three vehicles that caught fire in the blast. One of the vehicles was even propelled to the side of the busy roadway. Enditem