At least 10 people have been killed and 60 injured by an explosion in a fireworks market in Mexico.
The explosion ripped through the country's best-known fireworks market on the northern outskirts of the capital Mexico City, sending a huge plume of smoke billowing into the sky.
A government official said at least 10 people had died, but the official declined to provide his name as the death toll is still preliminary.
National Civil Protection coordinator Luis Felipe Puente told Milenio TV that at least 60 people were hurt at the open-air San Pablito Market in Tultepec, in the State of Mexico.
Images broadcast by Milenio showed smoke rising from the scorched ground and fireworks stands.
Emergency crews were attending to victims and hosing down hotspots.
Mr Puente said some nearby homes were also damaged.
The scene remained dangerous and he asked people not to come within five kilometres to avoid danger or hampering the emergency response.
Puente added that there was no choice but to let any unexploded fireworks burn off.
A fire engulfed the same market in 2005, touching off a chain of explosions that levelled hundreds of stalls just ahead of Mexico's Independence Day.
A similar fire at the San Pablito Market also destroyed hundreds of stands in September 2006.
Many in Mexico traditionally celebrate holidays — including Christmas and New Year's — by setting off noisy firecrackers and rockets.
