A gas tank exploded at a beachside restaurant on Mexico's Caribbean coast on Monday, killing two people and wounding at least 21, the local Mexican media reported.
Eight of those injured at the Kool Beach restaurant required hospitalization, according to police in the coastal state of Quintana Roo. The blast happened "in a gas tank in the restaurant's kitchen," according to state police head Lucio Hernández's social media posts.
Photos from the incident appeared to show blown-out windows and a collapsed awning.
During a news conference at the scene of the incident, Lili Campos, municipal president of Solidaridad, pointed out that the bodies of the two deceased could not be removed from the scene due to the risk of collapse, but claimed that they had been employed at the restaurant.
The injured were reportedly transferred to the General Hospital of Playa del Carmen and others were sent to private hospitals.
The official reportedly said that the person in charge of the beach club was already brought in by authorities to give testimony.
According to officials two have died and, of the 17 injured, four are foreigners.
The media claimed that this incident is not the first time that an improperly-connected cooking gas line has resulted in fatalities on Mexico's Caribbean coast, which remains a popular tourist destination.