Mexico City, Nov 1 (IANS): At least one person died and 15 others were injured in an explosion near an illegal tap on a pipeline belonging to the state-owned Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) oil company in the central Mexican state of Puebla, local authorities said on Sunday.

Governor of Puebla, Miguel Barbosa told a press conference that the accident occurred near a liquefied petroleum gas pipeline in the town of San Pablo Xochimehuacan, north of the state capital.

Some of the injured were taken to nearby hospitals after the explosion, which also damaged more than 50 buildings in the town, according to the authorities.

Since the beginning of his administration in December 2018, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has been combating the theft of fuel from Pemex pipelines, Xinhua news agency reported.

In January 2019, an explosion at an illegal pipeline tap in the town of Tlahuelilpan in the Mexican state of Hidalgo left 137 dead in one of the most serious tragedies related to fuel theft in the country's history.