Officials in Mexico are working to identify the charred bodies caused by an explosion that killed at least 32 people at its biggest fireworks market, as authorities continue to investigate what caused the blast.
Rescue workers were still searching for bodies — or survivors — in the smoldering wreckage of the San Pablito market in the Mexico City suburb of Tultepec.
Dazed family members wandered outside the tightly guarded blast site, seeking information on their relatives.
Concepcion Hernandez said she had no news from her mother, 65, and brother, 29, since the Tuesday afternoon explosion.
"They came to buy fireworks for their store. It was their first time here," she said through tears.
We don't know anything.
Another family was looking for two missing children whose mother and grandmother were killed in the explosion.
Just 14 victims have been identified so far, said state government secretary Jose Manzur.
Eight victims were minors, officials said.
Christmas and New Year parties in many Latin American countries often wrap up with a fireworks displays.
Another 72 people were injured in the blast.
At least 27 people died in an explosion at a fireworks market outside the Mexican capital, according to a local emergency services official. pic.twitter.com/GUwkKTBQmz
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) December 20, 2016
Forty-seven people injured in the explosion remained hospitalised, many with severe burns covering their bodies.
Three badly burned children were due to be transferred to a specialist hospital in the US.
"I thought we were all going to die," said Luis Hernandez, 26, at the shop where he has assembled fireworks for the past 12 years.
People were running. Children were shouting. Lots of burned people were walking around, not knowing what to do. And we didn't know what to do either, because we were afraid the explosions would start again.
The multiple explosions could be seen from a few kilometres away.
Desperate search
There was little left standing in the smoldering ruins of the market afterwards; an acrid smell hung in the air well into the night.
Fire crews struggled for three hours before bringing the blaze under control.
The head of the civil protection service, Luis Felipe Puente, said crews had to wait for all the fireworks to finish exploding before they could extinguish the flames.
"The entire market is gone," he said. It had more than 300 stands.
Several of the injured were in "delicate condition," he added.
Small explosions continued to startle locals through the night. Authorities said they were controlled blasts to eliminate remaining gunpowder.
Homes and vehicles nearby were also severely damaged. In some areas, emergency workers were gently probing for survivors under heaps of charred and twisted roofing material.
People desperately searching for family and friends shouted and gestured to rescuers about where they hoped the missing might be found.
The military, which is in charge of issuing fireworks sales permits, was deployed to help emergency crews transport casualties to hospitals by ambulance and helicopter.
Ambulances, fire trucks, police vehicles and army trucks all crowded the sprawling blast area.
Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto tweeted his condolences to the families of those killed.
Rocket to blame?
The attorney general's office has opened an investigation into the cause of the blast.
State and federal investigators were combing through the burnt remains of the market.
Some witnesses said a rocket that went off at one seller's stall triggered the chain reaction.
"We cannot verify that theory, since the person working at the stall in question is unfortunately deceased," investigators said in a statement.
Other locals told AFP the blast was caused by a "bomb," a pyrotechnic product the size of a tennis ball that lights up the sky in colourful circles.
Mr Gomez, the investigating prosecutor, said the probe was only just beginning.
"I have no theories for now," he said. "Our priority has been to attend to the injured, remove the bodies and deal with the emergency."
He said forensic photographers and explosives experts would analyze the scene as necessary in the coming days.
That was the cause of an explosion at the same market in September 2005 ahead of the Independence Day holiday.
The following year, another explosion destroyed more than 200 sellers' stands. Both incidents left dozens of injured, but no fatalities.
