Insane Explosion at Mexican Fireworks Market Kills At Least 29 People

A freak explosion at a fireworks market in Mexico City on Tuesday afternoon has killed at least 29 people and injured dozen of others, Reuters reports. Mexican officials confirm that a series of rapid explosions caused the incident. 

During police's preliminary count, at least 70 people were believed to be injured, the NY Daily News reported. It is still unclear how many people were in the building or near the San Pablito Market at the time of the explosions, however. 

Video footage captured by witnesses shows a wave of blasts coming from the building. For several minutes, fireworks went off into the air, followed by fire and intense clouds of smoke. In addition to destroying the building and surrounding streets, National Civil Protection Coordinator Luis Felipe Puente stated the explosion also damaged nearby homes and establishments. Many residents were evacuated and warned that the area was extremely dangerous, Puente said. 

This isn't the first time that the market has been the scene of a disaster. In 2005, the same market caught on fire just ahead of Mexico's September Independence Day. A year later another fire broke out, according to the Daily News. Officials have not provided a possible cause for the explosions that occurred on Tuesday, but police don't believe it to be an act of arson.