Asia-Pacific

Explosion kills at least 6 in Mexico hotel

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-11-15 13:08

The scene is pictured after an explosion occurred in Princess Riviera Mayo hotel in Del Carmen Beach in the Mexican resort city of Cancun on Nov. 14, 2010. The explosion on Sunday killed at least 6 and injured 20 others. Authorities said the explosion was due to gas accumulation in the pipe lines of the hotel's central kitchen, but they will continue investigating the explosion.[Photo/Xinhua]

MEXICO CITY -- An explosion on Sunday killed at least 6 and injured 20 others in a hotel in the Mexican resort city of Cancun, in southeastern Mexico, Quintana Roo's prosecutor Francisco Alor Quezada said.

The explosion occurred in Princess Riviera Mayo hotel at about 9:00 a.m. local time in "Premium" restaurant of Princess Riviera Maya in Del Carmen Beach.

During a press conference Alor said that to the moment they have conformed 20 injuries, who were taken to the hospitals in Carmen Beach and Cancun.

He said that the authority think the explosion was due to gas accumulation in the pipe lines of the hotel's central kitchen, but they will continue investigating the explosion.  

He said that among the fatal victims, there were an Italian and three people who worked in the hotel, and among the injured there are also foreigners.

Meanwhile, Cancun's City Hall secretary Rafael Castro told Xinhua that most of the victims were hotel employees, who at that moment were working in the restaurant.

Also it was reported that two journalists were hit by the vigilance guards, when they tried to enter the hotel to make an interview and were taken to the hospital now.

The authorities have detained the hotel's manager. According to witnesses, the employees had reported a strong gas smell, but the manager ignored.

Cancun will host the United Nations Conference of the Parties ( COP16) on Climate Change at the end of November.