12/13/12 – I uploaded the full video (1:45) to my YOUTUBE account rather than the members’ area. This full version includes a 2nd view from a different camera and shows the full impact and size of the explosion and the tank fires resulting from the blast.
WARNING! This video will be UPSETTING to many, especially the few seconds after the explosion has occurred. But this CCTV footage may be the best depiction of what an industrial explosion looks like and the toll it takes on workers a great distance from the ignition point. If you have flammables within your facility, I feel this video is a WAKE-UP CALL for those who see it. We tend to convince ourselves that this will never happen to us, but these types of incidents occur with a high price of human and business losses.
Pay particular attention to what you SEE and DO NOT SEE just before the explosion. At the 50-second mark, we SEE workers doing their jobs as if nothing is wrong. They are walking and doing their duties in what appears to be normal and not responding to a known leak. We also SEE two trucks come into the video field of vision and travel in the direction of the ignition point. NOTE: neither truck was the ignition source, but this is evidence that no one knew of any leak before the explosion. We DO NOT SEE any vapor cloud or any indication of the impending explosion. We DO SEE two mobile trailers parked within ~150′ of the ignition point, and all indications are these trailers were occupied with the two work trucks parked outside of them. For those who watch the video all the way through, pay close attention to the pressure wave that is way out before the fire front that comes 1-2 seconds later. The worker at the compressor/pump area in the lower right corner is badly injured from the event, and his actions should be ETCHED into our minds so that we NEVER lose SIGHT of the human impact of these catastrophic events!
The state-owned Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) reported the death of 30 contractors/PEMEX workers and 42 injured at the Centro Receptor de Gas y Condensados de Pemex Exploración y Producción located in Reynosa, Tamaulipas. Mexico. Emergency services, local police, estate police, Federal police, and military personnel cordoned the area and shut down the Monterrey-Reynosa Highway. Firefighters from Reynosa, Monterrey, and the surrounding counties rushed to the scene to control the fire, which took over 10 hours to be controlled. At this time, some workers remain missing. Some unofficial sources mention that casualties may be over 50 workers.
This is the FULL video (1:45), and the shorter HIGHER RESOLUTION video is below it.
HIGHER Resolution video, but stops with only the one camera view