When was the explosion in San Juanico?
It happened during the early morning of Monday, November 19, 1984; That is, 41 years of this sinister are about to be turned. He is cataloged as one of the greatest disasters in industrial history that occurred in San Juan Ixhuatepec or San Juanico, in Tlalnepantla, State of Mexico.
The tragedy began at the LPG storage and distribution center (liquefied oil gas) in San Juan Ixhuatepec, 20 km north of Mexico City. The facilities belonged to the State Petroleum Company of Mexico (Pemex).
“The total storage capacity at the Pemex facilities was 16,000 cubic meters of LP gas, distributed in 6 spheres and 48 cylinders of different capacities, which came from the refineries of Minatitlán, Coatzacoalcos and Azcapotzalco,” says the National Disaster Prevention Center.
How many explosions were there in San Juanico?
According to the chronicles of that time, the first explosion occurred to the 05:44 hours Due to the break in storage tanks. Two of the explosions had an intensity of 0.5 on the Richter scale.
“Non -burned gas and combustion gas entered the houses south of the plant area and set fire to everything. The expansive waves of the explosions not only destroyed several houses, but also displaced several cylindrical tanks of their supports and fueled the fire,” details the chronicle of San Juanico, of Carlos Monsiváis.
Eduardo Barceló recounts in his chronicle “Hell has a name … San Juanico”, the second explosion occurs to the 05:48 hours. At 06:20 hours The third explosion occurred, of much greater scope. A “sausage” tank rushes and destroys a garage and a second floor.
The inhabitants of San Juan Ixhuatepec At that time they were mostly poor peasants who lived in houses with a single plant built with concrete pillars stuffed with bricks and iron sheet roofs.
The cylindrical containers that took off the plant and landed in the housing areas, reaching a distance of 1,200 meters when falling on the homes of the Zacatenco hill. Many of the fatalities died at home, others ran to save their lives. According to official figures, 503 people died, 926 inhabitants suffered injuries of different magnitudes, 149 homes were destroyed, while 1,358 suffered diverse damage and the plant was destroyed.
