Crackdown on illegal fuel is blamed for Mexican disaster
Print Edition
A BLAST at a gasoline pipeline in Mexico that killed at least 79 people has put renewed attention on the government’s strategy to stop fuel theft.
Thieves punctured the Tula-Tuxpan pipeline a few miles from one of Mexico’s main refineries on Friday.
Up to 800 people flocked to fill plastic containers from the 7-meter gasoline geyser that ensued. A couple of hours later, it exploded.
Mexican Health Minister Jorge Alcocer said yesterday that the number of dead in the incident had risen to 79 people.
Many residents said their relatives went to the leaking duct in Tlahuelilpan district in Hidalgo state because they struggled to find fuel elsewhere and were desperate to fill up cars to get to work or run their farms.
“A lot of innocent people came here, perhaps their car didn’t have enough gasoline for tomorrow, and they said I’m just going to go for a few liters,” said farmer Isidoro Velasco, 51, who was waiting for news of his nephew Mario Hidalgo, who he believed was most probably dead.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has launched a program to shut down an illegal fuel distribution network that siphons off about US$3 billion worth of fuel annually from state oil firm Pemex.
The plan, which involves shutting off pipelines compromised by gangs which fit valves to drain fuel, led to widespread gasoline shortages in central Mexico in January, including in Hidalgo, to the north of Mexico City.
On Saturday, most gas stations in Tlahuelilpan were closed. Polls show the measures have until now enjoyed fairly broad public support, despite the long lines at gas stations. The disaster in Tlahuelilpan, however, has brought renewed scrutiny of the strategy.
Lopez Obrador has faced repeated questions about the disaster, demanding he explain why soldiers deployed to guard the duct did not chase people away from the leak and how quickly supplies to the duct were cut after Pemex detected the leak.
Pemex CEO Octavio Romero said a valve had been closed at the pipeline once a drop in pressure from the leak had been noted, but he did not say at what time that happened.
Fuel spurted from the pipeline for around two hours before it exploded, with no visible loss of pressure. Romero said about 10,000 barrels of high octane gasoline were in the section of the pipeline between the Tula refinery and the village when it blew up on Friday.
The defense ministry and Lopez Obrador said there were only 25 soldiers present and the army did not want to hold back the crowd. Critics say authorities should have been firmer in controlling the crowd.
“Part of the blame goes to the people (at the ruptured pipeline) but the bigger blame lies with authorities who let them go there knowing it was dangerous,” said Velasco.
Lopez Obrador said the disaster had hardened his resolve to fight fuel theft and the government was looking at ways to strengthen aging pipelines to make it harder to illegally suck fuel from them.
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