A large fire on the Quintana Roo island of Holbox injured one person and damaged scores of rooms at two hotels on Monday night.
A gas tank explosion triggered the blaze on the small island located off the northern coast of mainland Quintana Roo.
The fire, which broke out at approximately 10 p.m. local time, destroyed at least 60 rooms at the Casa Las Tortugas and Posada Mawimbi hotels and also damaged a restaurant, according to a report by news website Expansión Política.
Casa Las Tortugas was completely destroyed, the newspaper El Financiero reported.
The beachfront hotels are located near the western tip of Holbox, a popular tourist destination reached by ferry from the village of Chiquilá. The fire spread quickly because of the organic material – wood and palm leaves – with which they were built.
Quintana Roo Governor Mara Lezama said on Twitter late Monday that a young person was injured by the fire, but not seriously.
“The Quintana Roo government has made all resources available to attend to the situation. The fire is being controlled, the fire is being extinguished,” she wrote just before midnight local time.
Seguimos en el recuento de los daños del incendio suscitado en #Holbox, nuestro compromiso es ayudar a l@s ciudadan@s y turistas a recuperar sus pertenencias y brindar atención a quienes perdieron sus documentos. pic.twitter.com/LEGHSydCsy
— Mara Lezama (@MaraLezama) November 29, 2022
According to Expansíon Política, Holbox residents used buckets of water to help bring the blaze under control because it took some time for firefighters and Civil Protection personnel to reach the island from the mainland.
Lezama, who visited the island on Tuesday morning, said on Twitter that the three levels of government, the business community and society in general will work together to build a fire station on Holbox.
“We acknowledge the volunteers and authorities that managed to extinguish the fire here in Holbox,” the governor said in another post.
“We’re supporting tourists to recover their documents and taking stock of the material damage,” she added.
With reports from Expansión Política and El Financiero
