An explosion in the administrative building of the company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) left 25 dead and 101 injured yesterday in the capital of the country. Forty-six persons are hospitalised.

Firefighters, medical emergency workers (ERUM), Red Cross, the national army and other organisations immediately started rescue works and searches for more possible victims.

Experts of the General Attorney are analising the causes of the incident, but so far they are unknown or unpublished. A press-release on the company’s website reports, “the legal department of Pemex has already introduced corresponding denouncements to the Public Ministry.”

At the same time, President Enrique Peña Nieto assured he will personally control rescue actions. He has already visited the hospital of Pemex in Picacho and B2 building, where the explosion had taken place. He acknowledged professional work of those involved in rescue operations and afirmed again that “nobody is going to privatise Pemex or our hydrocarbons. On the contrary, we want to have the best public company in the world.”

Pemex authorities suspended all labour activities of the company “till further notice”. However, the latest press-release published at 1.18am local time says that “the company has activated its financial operations contingency system.” Additionaly, Pemex ensures that “all commitments with its financial and commercial counterparties will be met in a timely and appropriate manner.”

Ironically, the explosion happened a few hours after Carlos Murrieta, Operations Director of Pemex, had announced “we have reduced the accident rate in recent years. It is an achievement for Pemex to maintain safety indicators according to the international standards.”

Yesterday’s incident is not the first one to happen in Pemex. On 19th September 2012 a gas plant explosion killed 26 and injured 46.

Emergency personnel have recovered the bodies of seven people killed in a Mexican mine explosion on Wednesday in the state of Coalhuila.

“We confirm the recovery of the bodies of the seven trapped miners,” police official Francisco Martinez said in a statement on Wednesday.

“All indications are that the explosion was caused by a pocket of accumulated gas,” Martinez said.

The explosion happened in an El Progreso coal mine in Muzquiz because of a methane gas reaction. The seven people killed were all members of the same family, aged 20 to 39. The miners suffered severe burns and were trapped and crushed by falling rock.

Juan Antonio Ibarra, of the Coahuila emergency services, said the explosion happened some 75m (246ft) underground, according to the BBC news. Emergency crews had to work slowly in well-ventilated conditions to reach the victims because of the potential danger of triggering another explosion.

Methane gas explosions are an all too common occurrence in mines in Coalhuila. In 2006, 65 miners were killed at a mine in Pasta de Conchos. According to Relatives of Pasta Concho, a pressure group formed after the 2006 explosion, 30 people died in 2011 due to mine explosions in Coalhuila. They say 50,000 people work in state mines that are largely unregulated and lack necessary security and safety measures.

Mexico’s labor ministry had enacted access restrictions to the mine in Muzquizm, after inspecting the mine 16 times in 2009 and finding it lacked emergency exits. The Ministry of Labor pledged to continue inspecting across the state for high-risk mines.

Eight people were shot dead in greater Sao Paulo early yesterday as fans celebrated the victory of local team Palmeiras in the Brazilian Cup.

Men on motorcycles and in cars drove through the town of Osasco and open fired in several different locations.

Of the nine people injured seven died on scene while one was transported to hospital but later succumbed to the injury.

Officers said the gunmen took advantage of the partying to disguise their gunshots. Firecrackers rang throughout the streets during the celebration perfectly masking the attacks.

Despite the timing, police said there is no evidence that the shootings had targeted their victims for being football fans and claim that the shootings took place close to bars that sold drugs.

“The criminals took advantage of the time when people were setting off fireworks to disguise the sound of their guns,” a police statement said.

A study released in 2007 lists the homicide rate in Sao Paulo at 17.4 per 100,000 people, Buenos Aires marks 4.6 per 100,000.

Palmeiras won the Brazilian Cup 3-1 on aggregate after two games against Coritiba. In the first game Palmeiras defeated them 2-0 and in the second they tied 1-1.

The victory means Palmeiras will be able to compete in next years Copa Libertadores against Sao Paulo rivals Corinthians.

Corinthians defeated the Boca Juniors last week before a home crowd of 40,000 to win South America’s elite competition.

A march is taking place in Cañuelas today to protest against insecurity, following the shooting of supermarket owners Leonardo and Marcelo Massa last night. The brothers were attacked at 7.30pm in the “Doña Rosa” supermarket by assailants on motorbikes who remain unidentified.

Leonardo and Marcelo Massa were shot at point blank range last night at a supermarket located four blocks away from the Central square in Cañuelas. The attacker, who arrived on motorbike, opened fire on the brothers as customers sought protection behind shelves.

Marcelo, aged 38, was shot three times in the chest and died on the way to the hospital. Younger brother, 36, Leonardo died in the operating room around two hours after the incident took place.

The criminals have not been found despite a night-long search. However, police believe the assault could be a revenge attack against Marcelo, who put a man in prison six years ago by testifying against him.

Marcelo testified against an attacker who shot him in a violent attack in his home. Shots were fired in a struggle with his assailants which left Massa seriously injured. His attacker swore he would retaliate when he his prison sentence was complete. He was recently released.

The double murder committed yesterday is being investigated by Attorney Robert Rovato Cañuelas

Last night 3,000 neighbours took to the streets in a protest against crime and insecurity in the local area and demonstrations continue today from 1pm.

Local shops will close their shutters at 12pm for a day of mourning and the community will gather at 1pm to protest outside the police station in the town. The Chamber of Commerce have met with police and municipal authorities to demand change after a string of violent attacks against local businesses.

20 days ago, vandals broke the windows of the supermarket owned by the brothers. The Massa’s parents claim they had been living in a “state of constant alarm” for many years.

A powerful earthquake sent the central regions of Chile into a state panic early this morning, leaving at least one dead and power outages in its wake.

According to the National Seismological Institute, the quake had a magnitude of 6.7 on the Richter scale. The Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service of the Chilean Navy, however, assured media sources that there was little possibility of a tsunami on the coasts.

Chilean news source El Mercurio reported that the tremors began at 0:50 local time, and were centralised about 56 kilometres from the town of La Ligua, in central Valparaiso. A “precautionary evacuation” executed in the coastal town of Tongoy displaced some 5,000 to 5,500 from their homes.

Although two others were reported injured, the apparently lone casualty was 72-year-old Hugo Muñoz Sepúlveda, who suffered from cardiac arrest at his home in Quintero.

El Mercurio also reported that the earthquake prompted a power failure in Quintero and landslides on the rocks near Route 60 CH.

Buildings and homes are currently being inspected for damage, but no major problems have been reported as of yet.

It’s Friday again!

And what a fucked up week it’s been for Argentina.

So this week’s column is going to be rather grim, because that’s just the way it is.

You have probably heard all about it by now, but just in case you don’t give a damn, which trust me, is possible, here’s what you need to know about the latest tragic train accident:

• 

  This photo illustrates what TBA considers should be an "acceptable" service. Fuck them. (Photo/Beatrice Murch)

  At 8:32 AM on Wednesday, a train from the Sarmiento line entering the Once railway station failed to break as it reached the platform and hit the track bumper at 20 km/hour, leaving 51 people dead and over 700 people injured (click here for footage from the security cameras at the moment of the crash). After such a strong impact, the second car was plunged “about six meters into the first,” which is where most of the victims were found. In case you haven’t noticed, most commuters usually enter the first car in order to get off first and save time, so you can imagine how packed it gets in there during rush hour. Most of the people inside the first car were killed instantly.

• Even though the reasons for the accident remain unknown and forensic authorities have begun analyzing every aspect of it in order to figure out what went wrong, the tragedy has once again sparked a long-standing debate about the poor state of the trains that millions of people take every day to go to work. However, a representative from Trenes de Buenos Aires (TBA, the company running the train system) showed up at the station to defend the service saying that he considers it to be “acceptable.” Yeah, that’s right. This is “acceptable” to him. Or this. Or this. I shiver to think what it is he would consider “bad” service. Fucker.

• A few hours after the accident, Transportation Secretary Juan Pablo Schiavi gave an unfortunate press conference, which he opened by saying that accidents like this happen all over the world (“so don’t blame us!” *hint, hint*) and then said that had this happened on Tuesday, which was a holiday, the tragedy would have been a lot less serious. In response to what you’re probably wondering: no, he has not resigned nor has he been fired.

• President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner issued a statement, saying she was deeply saddened by the tragedy and announced two days of national mourning. Then no one has any idea what happened to her but she’s been MIA ever since.

• She also cancelled carnival celebrations, which were scheduled to take place this weekend on 9 de Julio Av. This kind of makes sense since I don’t think shaking your naked ass on a float in front of thousands of people on a day of national mourning is a great idea.

• As the death toll and the amount of injured passengers continued to rise, the international media got ahold of the news and heads of state from all over the world began sending their messages of support to the Argentine population. Mexico, Chile, the United States and Spain were some of the first nations to send their condolences in light of this tragic incident. But imagine the population’s surprise when suddenly the United Kingdom, whose relationship with Argentina has been more than tense in the last few months due to the Malvinas/Falklands controversy, was among the first to say that “their thoughts were with the families of the victims and with the emergency services still trying to help those involved.” See, people? This is what true diplomacy is all about. Sure, both countries may sound like they are about to kill each other, but in the face of tragedy, you leave your differences aside and you help whoever is in need. Had this happened in the UK, would you have had a similar attitude (I’m talking to you, Argentines)? If your answer was “I would have said they deserved it for stealing our islands,” then let me just say you, my friend, are an idiot.

• Speaking of the Malvinas/Falklands, a group of Argentine journalists, philosophers and other hard-to-pinpoint professions sent an open letter to the media in which they said that they had had it with all this bullshit and surprisingly had decided to side with the islanders and their right to self-determination. Can you imagine? Traitors! So the President charged them with heresy and ordered to have them burned at the stake, to which the populace hastily complied.

• Ha! No, of course they were not burned. But everyone pretty much told them to go fuck themselves. Here’s the letter in case you want to read it in Spanish, even though I know you couldn’t care less.

• Mark your calendars: the National Day against Mining Exploitation is coming. And no, this is not another holiday that the Government just pulled out of its ass. Apparently it’s gonna be this nation-wide protest against mining activities in the north-western provinces. You’re disappointed, aren’t you? You thought this was going to be another day off, didn’t you? Well it’s not. Deal with it.

• Prestigious London-based magazine “The Economist” has had it with the local Government trying to sugarcoat inflation and announced it would stop using Argentina’s official inflation statistics. In other non-related news, I also expect them to announce soon that Darth Vader is Luke’s father, Mili Vanilli were really lip-synching all along and Bruce Willis is dead.

• In another heavy blow to the cruise industry (which is already in hot water after the Costa Concordia fuck up incident), a waitress working in the MSC Armonia died of Influenzavirus B after being hospitalized in critical condition in Santos, Brazil. Several people in the cruise, which arrived in Buenos Aires on Wednesday, started showing similar symptoms and everyone started freaking out, but then the local Government said there was no threat so everyone decided to overcome the tragic death of the waitress by going shopping in Palermo Soho. See? And they didn’t even need Dr. House for this one.

• Did you click on that “Influenzavirus B” link? You didn’t, did you? That’s OK, it’s not like you would have understood a single word of it. Let’s just call it a really bad flu, period.

• Socialite, philanthropist, Argentina’s wealthiest person in the entire
  

  No one you know. (Photo/Wikipedia)

  universe and old person Amelia “Amelita” Fortabat passed away last weekend at the age of 90 (not that you care since you never heard of her). However, she was a prominent figure who inspired Andy Warhol to paint a portrait of her. And that makes her a thousand times cooler than you (unless you’re Marilyn Monroe) and worthy of being mentioned on this column.

• And finally: here’s a video that has been making the rounds on Facebook and Twitter, that at first makes you laugh and a few minutes later it keeps resonating in the echo chamber of your brain until you come to understand that there is really nothing funny about it. Maybe it’s the decadent state of that centuries-old, unusable blackboard in some God-forsaken school in Catamarca. Maybe it’s the finger-painted wall, collecting digital signatures since who knows how many years back, displaying signs of neglect. Maybe it’s the teacher’s attempt to conceal the fact that she just doesn’t know how to multiply while her students blatantly laugh at her ignorance. But mostly, I’m sure it’s the realization that this is the standard of education we’re offering future generations. Children who in a few years will be in charge of keeping society afloat while we hope to live with whatever shitty pension we’re entitled to. So yeah, that’s right. We’re fucked.

• Also, in her defense, I don’t think I’ve multiplied anything without a calculator since 1997, so I’m sure I wouldn’t know how to do it either. Give her a break.

Have a great weekend everyone!

A woman has been found dead in Santiago del Estero, 13 kilometres from Añatuya. Authorities estimate the woman to be between the ages of 20 and 30. Some speculate it is María Cash, Buenos Aires designer who disappeared two months ago after a trip to Jujuy and may have been sighted near Añatuya.

LA NACION reported that there were visible bloodstains and shotgun pellets that confirm this to be a murder case. Initial estimates from a forensic investigation suggest the murder could have happened over a month ago.

Other details of the body suggest her to be 1.6 metres tall, with light brown hair. Her clothes were violet-coloured. However, the body was semi-buried and it was missing an arm and a leg. Investigators are scouring the area, as they believe animals may have carried the missing body parts away.

A man found the body when he saw a vulture circling over the body.