Sandego.net – A routine evening of communal celebration in a small Mexican municipality turned into a scene of devastation when stored pyrotechnic charges detonated unexpectedly, sending a shockwave through a crowd gathered for a centuries-old religious observance. At least ten people were killed and sixty-four more sustained injuries when the blast tore through the area surrounding a parish church in Temascalcingo, Mexico State, on Saturday night, according to local authorities.

The explosion ripped through a retaining wall adjacent to the Nuestra Señora de la Luz church, scattering debris across the gathering space where hundreds of residents had assembled to watch the scheduled fireworks finale of the town’s patron saint festivities. The municipality, home to roughly 66,000 inhabitants, sits approximately 160 kilometers (100 miles) northwest of Mexico City in the heart of the country’s central highlands.…