2 in Tijuana Killed as Gas Truck Crashes

Two people died Tuesday afternoon when a Pemex gasoline truck crashed in a crowded commercial area and exploded in flames.

At least five others, including a firefighter, were injured in the blaze that damaged two apartment buildings, three warehouses and seven buses waiting at a city bus stop. Several other businesses and parked cars also were destroyed.

The accident occurred in the eastern La Mesa area at a busy corner of Diaz Ordaz Boulevard. Hundreds of motorists and pedestrians were in the area at the time of the noon fire.

Tijuana Fire Chief Eduardo Martinez said that the brakes apparently failed on the gasoline truck and the driver, trying to avoid traffic at a crowded intersection, crashed into concrete planters in the boulevard’s center divider. The tanker rolled over, spilling about 10,600 gallons of gasoline and spreading fire over two blocks.

One bystander said she was terrified as she watched the truck driver struggle unsuccessfully to get out of his wrecked, burning tanker. He was killed.

“It’s a miracle more people were not hurt when the whole street went up in flames,” said the woman, who was visibly shaken.

The other fatality was an unidentified woman who was eating lunch a few yards from the site of the crash.

The injured were taken to nearby hospitals with light burns.