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Mexico Fireworks Factory Explosion Death Toll Rises to 36

A witness posted video to Facebook of an explosion at a fireworks market outside Mexico City on Dec. 20, 2016.

The death toll in the Mexican fireworks explosions now stands at 36.

Mexican authorities said on Saturday that a woman who was badly burned had succumbed of her injuries.

Deadly blasts on Tuesday in the San Pablito market sent huge plumes of smoke billowing into the sky and shook the ground in neighboring towns.

The market is in Tultepec, a city about 25 miles north of Mexico City that bills itself as the country’s fireworks capital.

An explosion at the same fireworks market in 2005 injured a large number of people and caused extensive damage.

City host to festival

Another fire tore through part of the market in 2006. Since then, officials have touted security improvements at the site and described it as a much safer place to buy and sell pyrotechnics than the clandestine workshops in some local homes.

The area is densely populated, and witnesses from surrounding neighborhoods captured images of the huge volume of smoke that billowed into the sky.

The explosions have left people shaken in Tultepec, where the economy depends heavily on the fireworks industry.

There’s a 200-year tradition of manufacturing pyrotechnics in the city, which is host to a huge fireworks festival every year that’s drawn international attention.

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