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Death Toll Rising In Mexico; At Least 32 Dead After Explosion, More Than 100 Hurt

Rescue workers are searching the debris in Mexico City, where an explosion Thursday rocked the headquarters of the state-owned oil company, Pemex.
Yuri Cortez
/
AFP/Getty Images
Rescue workers are searching the debris in Mexico City, where an explosion Thursday rocked the headquarters of the state-owned oil company, Pemex.

Authorities in Mexico City said Friday morning that at least 32 people had been killed and another 120 or so injured by the explosion Thursday afternoon at the headquarters of Pemex, Mexico's state-owned oil company.

Both figures are up from where the story stood Thursday night (it was being reported then that there were at least 14 dead and 80 injured), when we were following the news as it came in from Mexico City.

There's a chance the grim figures will shift again in coming hours. According to The Associated Press, rescuers continue to search for victims who might trapped in the debris. The explosion reportedly caused extensive damage to the 51-story building's first few floors. It also shattered many windows on upper floors.

As NPR's Carrie Kahn tells our Newscast Desk, the cause of the explosion hasn't yet been determined.

(We updated this post at 11:45 a.m. ET with higher death and injury totals based on the latest news from Mexico. When the day began, the death toll stood at 25 and the number injured was said to be about 100.)

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.