14 dead, 80 injured in Mexico oil company blast
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Police block a street leading to the headquarters of state oil giant Pemex (pictured in the background) in Mexico City on Jan 31, 2013. An explosion rocked the skyscraper, leaving up to now 14 dead and 40 injured, as a plume of black smoke billowed from the 54-floor tower, according to official sources. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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Rescue workers head for the skyscraper that houses the headquarters of state-owned Mexican oil giant Pemex in Mexico City on Jan 31, 2013, following a blast inside the building. An explosion rocked the skyscraper, leaving up to now 14 dead and 40 injured, as a plume of black smoke billowed from the 54-floor tower, according to official sources. -- PHOTO: AFP
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An injured woman is being transferred to a stretcher outside the headquarters of state oil giant Pemex in Mexico City on Jan 31, 2013. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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An injured man is being transported in an office chair outside the headquarters of state oil giant Pemex in Mexico City on Jan 31, 2013. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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A helicopter overflies the area following a blast inside the skyscraper that houses the headquarters of state-owned Mexican oil giant Pemex, in Mexico City on on Jan 31, 2013. -- PHOTO: AFP
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People stand underneath the headquarters of state oil giant Pemex in Mexico City on Jan 31, 2013. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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An injured person is transported on a stretcher the headquarters of state oil giant Pemex in Mexico City on Jan 31, 2013. An explosion rocked the Mexico City headquarters of Pemex on Thursday, killing one person, injuring more than 20 others and causing extensive damage to the building. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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An ambulance arrives at the scene of the skyscraper that houses the headquarters of state-owned Mexican oil giant Pemex in Mexico City on Jan 31, 2013, following a blast inside the building. An explosion rocked the skyscraper, leaving up to now 14 dead and 40 injured, as a plume of black smoke billowed from the 54-floor tower, according to official sources. -- PHOTO: AFP
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Rescuers are driven inside the premises of the skyscraper that houses the headquarters of state-owned Mexican oil giant Pemex, following a blast inside the building in Mexico City on Jan 31, 2013. -- PHOTO: AFP
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A Mexican Federal Police truck heads to the skyscraper that houses the headquarters of state-owned Mexican oil giant Pemex, following a blast inside the building in Mexico City on Jan 31, 2013. -- PHOTO: AFP
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A forensic ambulance arrives on the premises of the skyscraper that houses the headquarters of state-owned Mexican oil giant Pemex in Mexico City on Jan 31, 2013, following a blast inside the building. An explosion rocked the skyscraper, leaving up to now 14 dead and 40 injured, as a plume of black smoke billowed from the 54-floor tower, according to official sources. -- PHOTO: AFP
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Police officers block off the premises of the skyscraper that houses the headquarters of state-owned Mexican oil giant Pemex in Mexico City on Jan 31, 2013, following a blast inside the building. -- PHOTO: AFP
Police block a street leading to the headquarters of state oil giant Pemex (pictured in the background) in Mexico City on Jan 31, 2013. An explosion rocked the skyscraper, leaving up to now 14 dead and 40 injured, as a plume of black smoke billowed from the 54-floor tower, according to official sources. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
Rescue workers head for the skyscraper that houses the headquarters of state-owned Mexican oil giant Pemex in Mexico City on Jan 31, 2013, following a blast inside the building. An explosion rocked the skyscraper, leaving up to now 14 dead and 40 injured, as a plume of black smoke billowed from the 54-floor tower, according to official sources. -- PHOTO: AFP
An injured woman is being transferred to a stretcher outside the headquarters of state oil giant Pemex in Mexico City on Jan 31, 2013. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
An injured man is being transported in an office chair outside the headquarters of state oil giant Pemex in Mexico City on Jan 31, 2013. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
A helicopter overflies the area following a blast inside the skyscraper that houses the headquarters of state-owned Mexican oil giant Pemex, in Mexico City on on Jan 31, 2013. -- PHOTO: AFP
People stand underneath the headquarters of state oil giant Pemex in Mexico City on Jan 31, 2013. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
An injured person is transported on a stretcher the headquarters of state oil giant Pemex in Mexico City on Jan 31, 2013. An explosion rocked the Mexico City headquarters of Pemex on Thursday, killing one person, injuring more than 20 others and causing extensive damage to the building. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
An ambulance arrives at the scene of the skyscraper that houses the headquarters of state-owned Mexican oil giant Pemex in Mexico City on Jan 31, 2013, following a blast inside the building. An explosion rocked the skyscraper, leaving up to now 14 dead and 40 injured, as a plume of black smoke billowed from the 54-floor tower, according to official sources. -- PHOTO: AFP
Rescuers are driven inside the premises of the skyscraper that houses the headquarters of state-owned Mexican oil giant Pemex, following a blast inside the building in Mexico City on Jan 31, 2013. -- PHOTO: AFP
A Mexican Federal Police truck heads to the skyscraper that houses the headquarters of state-owned Mexican oil giant Pemex, following a blast inside the building in Mexico City on Jan 31, 2013. -- PHOTO: AFP
A forensic ambulance arrives on the premises of the skyscraper that houses the headquarters of state-owned Mexican oil giant Pemex in Mexico City on Jan 31, 2013, following a blast inside the building. An explosion rocked the skyscraper, leaving up to now 14 dead and 40 injured, as a plume of black smoke billowed from the 54-floor tower, according to official sources. -- PHOTO: AFP
Police officers block off the premises of the skyscraper that houses the headquarters of state-owned Mexican oil giant Pemex in Mexico City on Jan 31, 2013, following a blast inside the building. -- PHOTO: AFP
MEXICO CITY (AP) - An explosion at the main headquarters of Mexico's state-owned oil company in the capital on Thursday killed 14 people and injured 80 as it heavily damaged three floors of the building, sending hundreds into the streets and a large plume of smoke over the skyline.
There were also reports that as many as 30 people were trapped in the debris from the explosion, which occurred in the basement of an administrative building next to the iconic, 52-storey tower of Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex.
There was no immediate cause given for the blast.
"It was an explosion, a shock, the lights went out and suddenly there was a lot of debris," employee Cristian Obele told Milenio television, adding that he had been injured in the leg. "Co-workers helped us get out of the building."
