Chile copper, lithium mines rattled by 7.4-magnitude quake
The earthquake struck 45 km outside San Pedro de Atacama, northern Chile, home to country's major copper and lithium mines.
An explosion caused by —so far— unknown reasons left 32 people dead and over 100 injured at the Mexico City headquarters of state-owned oil firm Petroleros Mexicanos (Pemex) late Thursday.
Rescuers continued to search the rubble for survivors Friday morning, while authorities have been appearing on TV and radio promising an exhaustive investigation after the office building blast.
Nieto has urged people not to speculate, reports Telesur (in Spanish), but theories go from an air conditioning problem to an electrical fire and even a possible attack.
“We have no conclusive report on the reason,” President Enrique Peña Nietos told reporters. “We will work to get to the bottom of the investigation to find out, first, what happened work, and if there are people responsible in this case, that we apply the full weight of the law against them.”
Pemex is at the centre of Peña Nietos’ energy overhaul that aims to allow private investment in the sector and so end the current monopoly. If successful, it would be Mexico’s largest reform in the sector since 1938, when former president Lázaro Cardenas privatized oilfields belonging to US and British firms.
The company was created as a state-owned venture 75 years ago and currently employs about 150,000 people. In 2011 produced about 2.5 million barrels of crude oil a day, according to its website, with $111 billion in sales.
Image courtesy of AP via You Tube
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