Fireworks blasts leave at least 19 dead outside Mexico City

Explosions at fireworks workshops have left at least 19 dead and 40 injured outside Mexico City.

At least two blasts on Thursday rocked Tultepec, Mexico, a town known for producing homemade fireworks, Reuters reports. Four firefighters and two police officers responding to the first explosion were killed when a second went off, per a government statement reported by The Associated Press.

A huge set of fireworks explosions killed dozens in the same town back in December 2016, and a smaller blast killed seven last month, per The Guardian. The manufacturers' permits will be examined, an official told Reuters, as fireworks safety is a consistent problem in Mexico. Fireworks sales in the area, about 20 miles north of Mexico City, will be suspended.

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