MEXICO CITY, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- At least one person was killed and five others were injured on Saturday when an illegally tapped oil pipeline exploded in east Mexico's Gulf Coast state of Veracruz, officials said.
The state's Secretariat of Civil Protection said in a press release the blast occurred at 7:30 a.m. as thieves were trying to steal fuel from the pipeline, which runs from the town of Minatitlan to the capital Mexico City.
Two women and three men were taken to the hospital with burns.
The blast sparked a fire and generated a thick plume of black smoke, and led Civil protection officials to evacuate residents of Zapoapan, where the incident occurred, as well as students at the nearby Technological University of Central Veracruz.
Pemex, the Mexican state-owned petroleum company, said it was finally able to bring the fire under control by noon, after company workers allowed the spilled fuel to burn off.
Fuel theft is on the rise in Mexico, with Pemex estimating annual losses of more than a billion U.S. dollars.
