Death toll of Mexico fuel pipeline blast rises to 79

At least 79 people were killed when a pipeline ruptured by suspected fuel thieves exploded in central Mexico, the country's health minister announced on Sunday.

The governor earlier said the tragedy happened when residents scrambled to get buckets and drums to a gush at the pipeline that authorities said rose up to 23 feet (seven meters) high.

The massive explosion and ensuing blaze broke out at a pipeline spot in the community of San Primitivo of the municipality of Tlahuelilpan at around 7:00 p.m. local time (0100 GMT), when roughly 700 people gathered around to collect the leaking fuel, according to authorities in the area.

Forensic experts filled body bags with charred human remains in the field where the explosion, in one of the deadliest incidents to hit Mexico's troubled oil infrastructure in years, occurred.

“Everyone came to see if they could get a bit of gasoline for their car, there isn't any in the gas stations,” farmer Isaias Garcia, 50, told Reuters. He was at the site with two neighbors, but waited in the car some distance away.

Following the accident, Mexican President Lopez Obrador said he was dismayed by the tragedy and offered his deepest sympathy to the families of the victims. 

"The most important thing" now was attending to the injured in order to save people's lives, he said.

Obrador has launched a major crackdown on fuel theft in Mexico since taking office, which cost the country some three billion U.S. dollars last year. 

The crackdown on fuel theft has become a litmus test of Lopez Obrador's drive to tackle corruption in Mexico and to stop illegal taps draining billions of U.S. dollars from the heavily-indebted state oil firm Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex).

Video on social media showed people filling buckets from the pipeline during daylight hours in the presence of the armed forces before the blast.

Lopez Obrador, who vowed to continue the crackdown on theft, defended the army in the face of questions about why soldiers failed to prevent the tragedy.

"We're not going to fight fire with fire," the president said. "We think that people are good, honest, and if we've reached these extremes ... it's because they were abandoned."

Blaming previous governments for neglecting the population, he said the priority was to eradicate the social problems and lack of opportunities that had made people risk their lives. He rejected suggestions the incident was linked to his policy.

Still, Lopez Obrador had vowed to tighten security in sensitive sections of the oil infrastructure, and the ruptured pipeline was only a few miles away from a major oil refinery.

In the aftermath, soldiers and other military personnel guarded the cordoned-off area that was littered with half-burned shoes, clothes and containers.

More than 100 people gathered at a local cultural center on Saturday afternoon, hoping to get information about loved ones who disappeared. Officials posted information about DNA tests for identification and a list of people taken to the hospital.

Lopez Obrador has said his decision to close pipelines has greatly reduced fuel theft, but the death toll has raised questions about potential unintended consequences.

"There was a gasoline shortage, people one way or another wanted to be able to move around," said local farmer Ernesto Sierra, 44. "Some even came with their bean pots."