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Deadly Explosion At Juárez Factory

A candy wrapper pokes out from beneath the rubble of an explosion that happened in October at a factory in Ciudad Juárez.
Mónica Ortiz Uribe
A candy wrapper pokes out from beneath the rubble of an explosion that happened in October at a factory in Ciudad Juárez.

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Deadly Explosion At Juárez Factory

Deadly Explosion At Juárez Factory

At least two people died and dozens more were injured after an explosion at a candy factory in the Mexican border city of Juárez.

The explosion happened at about 2 p.m. Thursday inside Confecciones Sunrise, a Juárez factory that manufactures candies sold in the United States.

Thursday night, authorities recovered the charred remains of one person from the rubble while local media reported another person died in the hospital.

The factory employs some 900 people and has exisited in Juárez for more than a decade. City officials said the explosion occurred near the factory's boiler and did significant damage to parts of the building. The exact cause of the blast is under investigation. 

Foreign-owned factories are a major part of the Juárez economy. More than 300 factories, or maquilas, employ some 200,000 people who make a wide variety of products from seat belts to flat screen TVs. 

Mónica Ortiz Uribe was a senior field correspondent for the Fronteras Desk from 2010 to 2016.