4 die in clandestine intake explosion

Four people died after an explosion of a Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) pipeline occurred in Tierra Blanca, Veracruz. The events took place between the communities of Cerritos and Mata Planta, where men dedicated to the theft of fuel installed a clandestine intake on a pipeline.

The intake went out of control and the criminals fled the scene, but when a Nissan Tsuru was passing by, the intake exploded.

The first reports point out that four people died on the site. According to authorities, they were citizens who weren't related to the pipesuckers whatsoever.

Members of the Fire Department and Civil Defense staff of Tierra Blanca tried to suffocate the fire, while elements of the Army secured the area.

In order to avoid more fuel theft and related accidents, such as the one occurred in Tierra Blanca, the Secretary of National Defense is intensifying its tasks of surveillance at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, where at least 17 clandestine intakes, have been detected.

General Alfonso Duarte Mujica, of the eighth military region, informed that this weekend, members of the Institutional Coordination Group for Hydrocarbon Matters are gathering in order to analyze the advances in the combat of this illegal acts.

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