At least 3 dead, dozens injured in explosion at Mexico City maternity hospital

Update, 12:27 a.m.

The death toll is now at 3 with the death of a second infant in the hours following the blast, according to The Associated Press, and eight children and seven adults remain in critical condition.

"The blast occurred at 7:05 a.m. when the truck was making a routine delivery of gas to the hospital kitchen and gas started to leak. Witnesses said the tanker workers struggled for 15 or 20 minutes to repair the leak while a large cloud of gas formed.

" 'The hose broke. The two gas workers tried to stop it, but they were very nervous. They yelled for people to get out,' said Laura Diaz Pacheco, a laboratory technician.

Three employees of the gas delivery company were hospitalized and in custody, the AP reported.

Updated at 2:58 p.m.

Mexico City's mayor says at least two people are dead after a gas tank truck exploded near a maternity and children's hospital in the capital on Thursday.

Earlier, there were conflicting reports about the toll; news reports and officials placed the number of dead at between three and seven.

The dead were identified as a woman and a child.

Television images showed the explosion caused the collapse of a big part of the hospital, the gas truck still smoldering as fighters tried to quell the blaze.

On Twitter, the Secretary of Public Safety said that 37 people were injured and emergency crews were working to find victims amid the rubble.

The Mexican newspaper El Universal reports that three parts of the hospital — the nursery, the emergency room and the administrative area — had collapsed. Adrián Rubalvaca, the chief of government for that section of the city, said on Twitter that the situation was "grave." Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.