GRIM DUTY

Mexico Pipeline Blast: Identifying Victims Could Take Months

At least 85 people were killed in the explosion.

Identifying all the victims of a pipeline explosion in Mexico that killed 85 people could take weeks or months, officials said Sunday. El Angel funeral home had received 68 bodies, but only seven had been identified, manager Israel Hernandez told the Los Angeles Times. “Identification in these cases is very, very difficult,” Hernandez said. “Almost all of these people are completely burned. Face-to-face identification is impossible.” Funeral home workers were trying to match personal items to names, while relatives of the missing were posting photos of loved ones in the town 50 miles north of Mexico City. The victims were gathered around a pipeline where fuel thieves had drilled an illegal tap when a leak caught fire and caused a massive blast.

DEVASTATING

More than 70 Dead in Mexico Pipeline Blast Caused by Thieves