MEXICO CITY, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Mexican government has put eradicating fuel theft on top of its agenda in the wake of an oil pipeline explosion that has killed at least 79 people and injured 81 others.
Officials believe fuel thieves had perforated the pipeline, which belongs to state-owned oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), and transports fuel from the city of Tuxpan on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico to the Tula refinery, near the site of the incident, in the central Mexican state of Hidalgo.
"It was intentional. Obviously someone perforated it because they wanted to illegally obtain the material," Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero told reporters at a press conference.
Fuel theft has been an ongoing problem for Mexico, and the crime has got worse in recent years as organized crime and drug cartels got involved in the profitable sale of stolen gasoline.
In the past three months, the pipeline that crosses the municipality of Tlahuelilpan has been illegally tapped for some 10 times, according to Pemex.
"There are 13 km between where the tragedy occurred and the Tula refinery, which equals a volume of 10,000 barrels of gasoline," Pemex Director Octavio Romero said at the same press conference.
In fact, the pipeline was reopened Wednesday following three weeks of suspension due to repairs, the government said.
After taking office on Dec. 1, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced that his government would work to crack down on the crime as part of its campaign against corruption.
Employees of Pemex and officials in towns where there are fuel pipelines are suspected of colluding with criminals.
Tlahuelilpan Mayor Juan Pedro Cruz told Xinhua that fuel theft in the area has been on the rise and fires have previously been sparked by the clandestine siphoning of fuel.
More than 120 firefighters battled the blaze for four hours.
Most of the 79 fatal victims were burnt beyond recognition.
Victim identification procedures are going on, and experts are preparing genetic tests on more than 50 unidentified remains. The results, according to Hidalgo's attorney general, Raul Arroyo, could take "a considerable time."
