A vehicle leaves the area of an explosion of a Pemex pipeline in the village of San Martin Texmelucan near Puebla Dec 19, 2010. [Photo/Agencies]
The accident occurred just before 6 am (1200 GMT) when oil spilling from a breached pipeline quickly burst into a fireball that flattened homes and wrecked cars in San Martin Texmelucan, a small community in the state of Puebla about 50 miles (75 km) east of Mexico City.
"Several streets were flooded with fuel. With a spark, there was a river of fire," said Valentin Meneses, interior minister of the state of Puebla.
Photos and video from the scene showed burned-out homes, charred vehicles and scorched ground around the moderately populated outskirts of the town.
Pemex, the state oil monopoly that controls the pipeline, said fuel thieves could have touched off the deadly explosion that was quickly controlled after the initial detonation.
"We are not discounting mechanical problems but, on the other hand, we have had problems with illegal taps this year including along that stretch" of pipe, said Pemex chief Juan Jose Suarez.
Fuel theft is rampant in the Pemex network and hundreds of millions of dollars worth of fuel have been stolen in recent years, the company has said.
"President (Felipe) Calderon has ordered an investigation to determine who was responsible and apply the full weight of the law," the president's office stated, pointing to the early indications of an illegal tap
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