Explosion at Mexico oil company
At least 22 people are injured after an explosion rocked the headquarters of state oil company Pemex in Mexico City, officials say. 1 February 2013 Last updated at 00:09 GMT
Emergency services are digging for survivors and the injured
An
explosion has rocked the headquarters of state oil company Pemex in
Mexico City, leaving at least 22 people wounded, reports say.
"An explosion took place in the B2 building of the administrative centre," Pemex said in a message on Twitter."There are injuries and damage on the ground floor and mezzanine," it said. The cause of the blast is not known.
Last September, 30 people died in an explosion at a Pemex gas plant in northern Mexico.
Television pictures showed rubble from the blast spread out on to the street in front of the building, and Red Cross ambulances on the scene attending to the injured, the BBC's Will Grant reports from Mexico City.
The 54-floor Pemex building is 214 metres (702 feet) tall
Earlier on Thursday, the company had reported problems with the electricity in the building.
Trapped At least 22 people were injured in the explosion at the 54-floor Pemex Executive Tower, a spokesman for the city's Civil Protection Agency said.
Some people were trapped in the basement after the blast, the official is quoted as saying.
Images of the blast posted on Twitter showed large clouds of smoke billowing from the building.
President Henrique Pena Nieto and Mexico City Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera headed to the scene of the accident, local media report.
Plaster had fallen from the ceiling of the basement and the situation was "delicate", another spokesman for local emergency services was quoted by the Reuters news agency.
Pemex has experienced a number of accidents in recent years.
Last September's deadly blast at a gas plant near the northern town of Reynosa is thought to have been caused by a build-up of gas.
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