Mexico fireworks blast hurts many

Explosions were being reported an hour after the first blast

Dozens of people have been injured in a blast and fire at a fireworks market in the town of Tultepec near the Mexican capital, reports say.

A local official said information so far indicated that at least 300 stalls were destroyed by flames after a large number of fireworks exploded.

The incident came as people across Mexico prepared to hold firework displays to mark Independence Day.

TV shots showed a charred area the size of a football pitch, Reuters reported.

Emergency workers fought fires amid heavy smoke.

"It just got bigger and bigger - fireworks, fireworks," a man said in a radio interview.

A radio reporter at the scene spoke of people fleeing with serious burns, Reuters said.

Reporters said they could still hear explosions from the site more than an hour after the blast, which took place about 1400 local time (1900 GMT).

Correspondents say the market is famous in Mexico and many of the town's people earn their livings from making and selling fireworks.

At least 28 people died after a blast at an illegal fireworks stand in the Mexican port town of Veracruz on New Year's Eve, 2002.