PEMEX Confirms Explosion

Mexico City (CNN) -- An explosion rocked the offices of Mexico's state oil company Thursday, killing at least 25 people and injuring 101, Mexico's interior minister said.
Dozens of people were trapped in the building after the explosion, Foro TV reported. It was unclear how many of them had been pulled to safety, or whether anyone remained stuck inside late Thursday, Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong told reporters.
More than five hours after the blast, rescuers had pulled at least one survivor from the rubble, Mexico's president said in a Twitter post.
Crews were still searching Thursday night for people who could be trapped in the Pemex office complex, which includes one of the city's tallest skyscrapers.

English:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/31/world/americas/mexico-pemex-explosion/index.html
Spanish:
http://www.wradio.com.mx/noticias/actualidad/confirma-pemex-explosion/20130131/nota/1834406.aspx

Tragic, RIP.

As of this morning, the count is 33. This is a very serious situation.

Does anyone know the cause?

Apparently a car bomb in the underground parking.

So is this fact or speculation?

I haven't seen anything in the Mexican press about a car bomb.

viajero wrote:I haven't seen anything in the Mexican press about a car bomb.

Maybe you won't ever see it. If you were going to see it you wouldn't see it till nobody really gave a rat's. The government is still maintaining that it's too early to say what caused it.

espíritu del lago wrote:So is this fact or speculation?

Speculation!

So far, they're simply calling it an "explosion."

I have seen statements in various publications which have stated: no gas lines in the explosion area, no boilers, no air conditioning units and a few other smaller eliminations.

From today's INFORMADOR:
http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&ei=MRcRUZaJK4mEygHM-4DwBg&hl=en&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dinformador%26hl%3Den%26tbo%3Dd%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D610&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=es&twu=1&u=http://www.informador.com.mx/primera/2013/434988/6/descartan-atentado-en-explosion-en-torre-de-pemex.htm&usg=ALkJrhhHdpsqWF16sMYx3IMjgT_w1W8Fjw

While short on details, they seem to feel that the explosion was caused by an accumulation of gas.

That's what I just heard, too.

Here is what Stratfor Global Intelligence had to say:

In Mexico, Rumors Surround the Pemex Explosion
February 3, 2013 | 1729 GMT
Summary

ALFREDO ESTRELLA/AFP/Getty Images
The Pemex building in Mexico City on Feb. 1
Unconfirmed rumors indicate that an explosive device may have triggered the Jan. 31 explosion in the basement of the headquarters of Petroleos Mexicanos, better known as Pemex, in Mexico City. According to other unconfirmed rumors, two other explosive devices were in the building that did not detonate. If these claims are true, they would finally offer clarity on the blast, which left at least 32 people dead and more than 100 injured. The official position of the Mexican government, as stated by Pemex Director General Emilio Lozoya, remains that the incident appears to have been an accident but that the government is pursuing all lines of investigation.
Though the author of the possible attack is unknown at this point, the event could indicate a range of possible political challenges for the new administration, including criminal intimidation and political infighting. The reform of state-owned Pemex has formed the cornerstone of the administration of newly inaugurated President Enrique Pena Nieto. Mexico's declining oil production and exports have a direct impact on the national budget, which in any given year sources between 30 and 40 percent of its revenue from Pemex. Reforms will aim to increase crude oil and natural gas production for both domestic consumption and export. As a result, for anyone looking to send a clear message to the new administration, Pemex is a natural target.
Analysis
Although Mexico's drug cartels are the most obviously powerful set of violent actors in Mexico, to date they have refrained from terrorist-type tactics. Their operations have remained squarely within the bounds of criminal violence designed to facilitate the business of drugs. Unlike the decision of Colombia's Medellin cartel to engage in politicized violence during the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Mexican drug gangs have largely kept their operations from directly challenging Mexico City. Should the cartels escalate their actions to political violence, it could push the Mexican government to invite U.S. forces into the country to combat the threat, something these criminal organizations wish to avoid. It is possible that the Pena Nieto administration is engaging in back-channel negotiations with one or another of Mexico's criminal groups in an effort to stem the violence, an action that could shift the calculus of cartels. There is no evidence to suggest that such a change has occurred, but if further evidence comes to light suggesting the cartels were involved in the Jan. 31 explosion, it would indicate a significant change in Mexico's political and security situation.
If the explosion was indeed an attack, the more likely explanation may be political infighting. The changes that the Pena Nieto administration wishes to implement will make Pemex more transparent and efficient and will most likely undermine entrenched interests in the company. Notoriously corrupt, Pemex has long been accused of gross inefficiencies and its employees of pervasive graft. As a result, any efficiency reforms to Pemex will likely cause many to lose their privileged access to Pemex funds. This is not to say that the organization is unaware that changes must be made. In fact, the company has attempted in recent years to make a number of changes to increase output. But recent discussions that the new Pemex leadership, appointed by the Pena Nieto administration, will lay off thousands of employees have put new strain on the company and on the leading Institutional Revolutionary Party, which has a close relationship to Pemex union leaders.
Nevertheless, the explosion was very large for a political message stemming from an internal power struggle. It is possible that the explosion was a complete accident -- a natural gas leak or a blown transformer could have caused an explosion of this size. Indeed, many media reports have pointed to Pemex's poor maintenance record as a possible explanation. If that is the case, then the incident may have no significant political implications. However, an attack, as the rumors suggest, would indicate a significant setback in the first months of the Pena Nieto administration.

There's an article today in the NYTimes about it,it it quotes the Mexican attorney general saying that investigative teams from Mexico,Spain,Britain and the US found no evidence of a bomb,but hey, who knows.