Sabotage blamed as blasts rip Mexico pipelines

MEXICO CITY


Fires raged at the sites, and authorities evacuated some 24,000 people from the areas near the explosions, but no deaths or injuries were reported. Pemex officials said natural gas supplies could be cut by 25 percent for several days while repairs were made to the pipelines.

The Associated Press quoted an unnamed police official in Veracruz as saying that a note left by an obscure leftist guerrilla group had claimed responsibility for the blasts. But the report was not confirmed. The guerrilla group has always immediately taken responsibility for its attacks, and Mexican officials were not rushing to assign blame.

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