Paving Crew Hits Gas Pipe in Coyoacán, Forcing 40 People to Evacuate
Road resurfacing punctured a four-inch natural gas pipe in Coyoacán's Los Reyes area, and 40 people were evacuated. No one was hurt; Cruz Verde stayed closed.
A road resurfacing crew punctured a natural gas pipe in Coyoacán, and 40 people had to leave the area while firefighters stopped the leak. No injuries were reported, according to Mexico City’s Secretaría de Gestión Integral de Riesgos y Protección Civil (SGIRPC, the city’s risk management and civil protection agency).
The leak happened at the corner of Cruz Verde and Real de los Reyes, in colonia Los Reyes near Barrio del Niño Jesús. Paving machinery reached the underground line, a pipe four inches across, during work on the asphalt, the agency said.
How crews contained the leak
The Heroico Cuerpo de Bomberos (Mexico City’s fire department) worked with technicians from the gas company Naturgy to stop the gas and repair the damaged section. Civil protection staff set up a safety perimeter to keep sparks, flames or other heat sources away from the gas, restricted access and moved people out as a precaution.
ADN 40 reported that a gas station and several food stalls are a few meters from the site. Vendors were told to stop using gas and avoid anything that could produce fire or sparks. According to the broadcaster, the leak was fully under control after nearly an hour and a half of work.
Nearby streets did not need to close, ADN 40 said, but traffic on Cruz Verde remained restricted after the leak was contained. The city did not say how long repairs would take or when the street would fully reopen.
What it means for residents
Most Mexico City homes get natural gas through pipes under the street, so road and maintenance work can hit these lines. When that happens, standard procedure is to cordon off the site, move people out and call in the gas company. For residents near Cruz Verde, the main effect was a short evacuation and the ongoing closure of that street. If you are unsure which type of gas your building uses, our guide to LP gas and natural gas in Mexico City explains the difference.
Second gas evacuation in two days
The Coyoacán leak came a day after civil protection evacuated 15 people over a gas leak in colonia Valle de Madero, in Gustavo A. Madero, elmomento.mx reported. Together, the two incidents led to 55 evacuations in two boroughs in less than 48 hours.
Fire chief Juan Manuel Pérez Cova, known as “Jefe Vulcano,” said his department responded to 17 gas leaks across the city in the previous 24 hours. Over the same period, firefighters handled 13 fires, seven cut trees, five crashes and four rescues across the 16 boroughs.
Sources: Zócalo – Monclova, elmomento.mx, ADN 40
