At least 28 people have been killed and many others injured in an oil pipeline¹ explosion in central Mexico, officials say.

墨西哥官员称，墨西哥中部一条输油管线发生爆炸，至少28人死亡、多人受伤。

The blast in a town in Puebla state was apparently² caused by thieves attempting to steal fuel from the pipeline.

Oil gushed³（涌出，迸发） through the streets and caught fire, destroying homes and cars and forcing hundreds of people to flee.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon has visited the scene and promised to launch an investigation⁴.

Puebla State Secretary Valentin Meneses said the explosion injured 52 people as well as destroying 32 houses and damaging scores more in San Martin Texmelucan - a small community about 80km (50 miles) east of Mexico City.

He said that according to early indications, a criminal gang had punctured⁶（炸扎伤，凿孔） the pipeline.

"They lost control because of the high pressure with which the fuel exits the pipeline. The streets began to flood, then came a spark and we saw rivers of fire in the streets," he said.

'Inferno⁷'

One local resident said she awoke at about 0530 local time to a strange, overpowering（压倒性的，无法抵抗的） smell, like petrol.

Minutes later, her street looked as if it was flowing in tar⁵（焦油，柏油） , and then it erupted in flames. Her husband knocked down a wall, allowing them to escape from the back of their home.

"It was like we were living in an inferno（阴间，地狱） . Everything was covered in smoke," she said, quoted by AP news agency.

The fire was brought under control by midday, and the state oil monopoly（垄断） Pemex said it had shut the pipeline down.

President Calderon arrived in the town later on Sunday to survey the damage and visit the injured.

He offered his condolences（慰问，哀悼） to the victims' families and said those responsible for the incident would be brought to justice.

Pemex says that theft of oil from its pipelines⁸ is a chronic⁹ problem, costing it hundreds of millions of dollars a year.