Death toll from oil pipeline blast in central Mexico rises to 114

The number of people killed in an oil pipeline blast in the central Mexican state of Hidalgo has risen to 114,while 33 people remain hospitalized the Mexican Health Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
The previous death toll from the Tuxpan-Tula pipeline blast stood at 109.
The ministry added that 33 injured people remained in hospitals. While most of them are receiving medical assistance in Mexico City, three victims are undergoing treatment in the southern US state of Texas. 
The blast occurred in Hidalgo's Tlahuelilpan municipality late on January 18 after the pipeline was ruptured in an attempt to steal gasoline. Local residents were filling canisters when the disaster happened.
Mexico is currently experiencing severe fuel shortages with people sometimes trying to steal gasoline from pipelines..

Mexican Health Minister Jorge Alcocer said Saturday that 46 of those injured in the blast have died in hospital. He said those remaining in hospital run a high risk of infection in their kidneys, cardiovascular and respiratory systems because they inhaled scalding air that burned their tracheas and bronchial tubes. Three patients are being treated in Galveston, Texas.

Hundreds of people were in the vicinity of an illegal pipeline tap that spewed gasoline in the town of Tlahuelilpan on Jan. 18 when the liquid caught fire and exploded into a fireball. Those closest to the flames were incinerated on the spot into clumps of bone and ash.

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