9 Officials Formally Charged in Guadalajara Sewer Disaster

Nine officials, including four from the state oil company Pemex, were indicted Thursday on criminal charges stemming from the sewer explosions that killed more than 200 people and leveled much of downtown Guadalajara last week.

The charges, ranging up to negligent homicide, were filed by a Guadalajara judge two days before a self-imposed deadline for ruling on whether there was sufficient evidence in the case to warrant a trial.

“All nine have been formally charged,” said a spokesman for the Jalisco state government.

Former Guadalajara Mayor Enrique Dau Flores, who tendered his resignation a day after the explosions, was among five local government officials who now face trial in the case.

Dau, who judicial officials say failed to heed warnings that might have averted the tragedy, was being held with the others in a Jalisco state correctional facility.

None of the accused are eligible for bail.

In other developments, a government official denied that a huge gasoline leak threatened more destruction in Guadalajara.

Local media reports said the unchecked gasoline leak covered an area of 16 blocks of homes and industries in the city’s Alamo district.