#Mexico #Temascalcingo – A cache of fireworks stored beside a parish church exploded on the night of Sept. 5, 2026, collapsing a wall and a concrete slab during a patron saint celebration in Santa María Canchesdá, Temascalcingo. The blast killed 11 people and sent dozens more to hospitals, including two priests.
Hundreds of residents had gathered in the atrium of the Nuestra Señora de la Luz parish for the eve of the festival honoring Our Lady of the Light. Families waited for a fireworks display when stored pyrotechnic material in a warehouse or side room of the church detonated around 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. The force of the explosion tore down a masonry wall and a concrete roof slab, burying people under rubble and filling the area with smoke. Witnesses later said many of the dead and wounded had been lined up near the bathrooms.
State civil protection authorities initially reported nine deaths and later raised the figure to 10. Some later local accounts put the toll at 11 after one more patient died in a hospital. Health officials said 81 to 82 people received medical care at public and private facilities in Atlacomulco, Toluca and nearby towns. The majority were later discharged; a smaller number remained hospitalized in the days that followed. Among the injured were two priests from the parish, Fernando Chávez Cruz and Javier Sánchez Montes. The Diocese of Atlacomulco said both were treated and were not in danger. Victims included children as young as 3 and 12.
Emergency crews, state police and civil protection teams rushed to the site. Heavy equipment was used to clear debris and search for people trapped under the collapsed slab. The State of Mexico Attorney General’s Office opened an investigation. On Sept. 9, state government secretary Horacio Duarte Olivares said an electrical short circuit that produced a spark appeared to have ignited the stored fireworks. He added that civil protection officials had not been notified of the celebration and that the display lacked the required permit from Mexico’s Defense Secretariat (SEDENA).
Gov. Delfina Gómez expressed condolences and said state agencies would continue assisting affected families. Neighbors held funerals in the days after the blast as the small community of about 66,000, located roughly 100 miles northwest of Mexico City, absorbed the loss.
Cover Image: The search and rescue after the blast that killed and injured many people.
