Pemex workers and Civil Protection personnel are among 19 people who were injured when a leaking pipeline exploded in southern Veracruz on Tuesday.

The Veracruz Civil Protection agency said that an explosion occurred at about 3 p.m. as workers conducted a controlled burn at the site of an ethane leak on a Pemex pipeline in the municipality of Agua Dulce, located south of Coatzacoalcos on the border with Tabasco.

The agency said in a Facebook post Tuesday night that the majority of injured persons sustained first degree burns. It said in an earlier post that one person suffered second degree burns.

Video footage shows a raging blaze and huge quantities of black smoke emanating from the leaking pipeline.

Those injured by the fire were taken to hospitals in Agua Dulce and the nearby municipality of Nanchital.

The pipeline, located next to the Coatzacoalcos-Villahermosa highway, began leaking ethane on Sunday night, prompting a deployment of Pemex workers to attend to the situation.

Approximately 170 people who live near the pipeline were transported to shelters as a precaution, the newspaper Reforma reported.

Explosions along Pemex pipelines due to leaks are relatively common as crime gangs perforate the lines to steal petroleum and gas.

The deadliest incident in recent years was an explosion in January 2019 at a gasoline pipeline in Tlahuelilpan, Hidalgo, that claimed 137 lives.

With reports from Reforma and Aristegui Noticias