Gas blast at Mexico City children's hospital kills at least 3; dozens injured

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A powerful gas tank truck explosion shattered a maternity and children's hospital in Mexico City on today, killing at least three people and injuring dozens.

Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera told Milenio television that three were killed, a woman and two men.

He earlier told the Televisa network that at least 54 people were injured, 22 of them children. Most of the injuries were relatively minor, he said, many caused by flying glass.

Fausto Lugo, the city's civil defense director, said 37 people were transported to other hospitals and he said other people were likely still buried in the rubble.

The explosion sent a column of smoke billowing over the area on the western edge of Mexico's capital and television images showed much of the hospital collapsed, with firefighters trying to extinguish fires. Mancera said the heaviest damage was near the hospital's loading dock.

Mancera said the blast apparently was caused by a leak in the hose carrying gas from the truck to the hospital, which is operated by the city.

"There was a super explosion and everything caught on fire," said Ismael Garcia, 27, who lives a block from the hospital.