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It was just before dawn on November 19, 1984, in the San Juan Ixhuatepec suburb of Mexico City. The sky glowed faintly orange even before sunrise — but this was no sunrise.
At 5:40 a.m., a massive jet of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) burst from a ruptured pipeline in a densely packed storage facility operated by PEMEX, Mexico’s state-owned oil company. Within minutes, the invisible vapor spread across the ground, heavier than air, creeping silently through the facility and the nearby homes.
Then came the spark. In an instant, the gas cloud ignited — a blinding flash, followed by a chain of explosions that turned night into fire.
Storage spheres burst one after another like a deadly domino — a classic BLEVE (Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion). Fireballs shot hundreds of meters into the sky. Cylinders, fragments, and flames rained over homes, streets, and vehicles.
More than 500 people died, 7,000 were injured, and entire neighborhoods were wiped out. It was one of the worst process safety disasters in history, exposing how proximity, design, and poor emergency response magnified the tragedy.
Lack of segregation: The LPG storage facility was built too close to residential areas — only a few hundred meters separated tanks from homes.
No early warning or detection: Leak detection systems were inadequate, and operators did not identify the leak in time.
Failure of isolation: Emergency shutdown valves could not be activated quickly enough to stop the gas flow.
Poor layout and spacing: Multiple storage spheres were too close together, causing chain reactions after the first explosion.
Emergency planning: Nearby residents were unaware of evacuation routes; chaos magnified the casualties.
Complacency in familiarity: Workers and residents became used to the smell of gas leaks — small leaks were ignored.
Poor risk perception: The scale of potential impact from an LPG leak was never imagined.
Reactive safety mindset: Maintenance and inspection were done after incidents, not before.
Lack of coordination: coordination: Plant management and local authorities had no integrated emergency response plan.
Cultural mindset: mindset: “It’s always been like this” — normalization of unsafe conditions led to collective blindness.
The Mexico City LPG Explosion taught the world that process safety isn’t confined by plant walls. When you store or handle hazardous energy near people, your responsibility multiplies. This disaster led to global reforms in LPG storage codes, land use regulation, and emergency planning — lessons still relevant today.
Every time you design a tank, inspect a valve, or smell gas in the air — remember San Juan Ixhuatepec. It reminds us that a small leak in a big system can ignite an entire city.