Mexico pipeline explosion injures 3, 1 missing

MEXICO CITY – Mexican officials say three people have been injured and one is missing following the explosion of a gas pipeline in the central state of Guanajuato.

The Guanajuato civil defence agency says that workers operating machinery near a pipeline in Celaya accidentally punctured it Monday morning, sending a huge fireball into the air.

Nearby businesses and the local security command centre were evacuated.

Such explosions have been more commonly seen when fuel thieves’ illegal taps perforated pipelines, but the government has cracked down on those criminal rings this year.