Tourists killed in hotel gas explosion

Debris float in a swimming pool after an explosion at a hotel in Cancun. At least five Canadian tourists and two workers were killed in the gas explosion at the hotel in the beach resort of Playa del Carmen on Mexico's Caribbean coast. A child was among the dead and about 15 to 20 people were injured. Photo: Reuters
Debris float in a swimming pool after an explosion at a hotel in Cancun. At least five Canadian tourists and two workers were killed in the gas explosion at the hotel in the beach resort of Playa del Carmen on Mexico's Caribbean coast. A child was among the dead and about 15 to 20 people were injured. Photo: Reuters
People stand near a destroyed area after an explosion at a hotel in Cancun. At least five Canadian tourists and two workers were killed in the gas explosion at the hotel in the beach resort of Playa del Carmen on Mexico's Caribbean coast. A child was among the dead and about 15 to 20 people were injured. Photo: Reuters
Guests look out from a balcony to the site of a gas explosion inside a hotel in Cancun. At least five Canadian tourists and two workers were killed in the gas explosion at the hotel in the beach resort of Playa del Carmen on Mexico's Caribbean coast. A child was among the dead and about 15 to 20 people were injured. Photo: Reuters
Family members of hotel employees wait for news after a gas explosion at the Grand Riviera Princess hotel in Cancun. At least five Canadian tourists and two workers were killed in the gas explosion at the hotel in the beach resort of Playa del Carmen on Mexico's Caribbean coast. A child was among the dead and about 15 to 20 people were injured. Photo: Reuters
Tourists and hotel employees stand behind a yellow police line after an explosion at the hotel in Cancun. At least five Canadian tourists and two workers were killed in the gas explosion at the hotel in the beach resort of Playa del Carmen on Mexico's Caribbean coast. A child was among the dead and about 15 to 20 people were injured. Photo: Reuters
An overturned chair lies on the lawn amongst debris after an explosion at a hotel in Cancun. At least five Canadian tourists and two workers were killed in the gas explosion at the hotel in the beach resort of Playa del Carmen on Mexico's Caribbean coast. A child was among the dead and about 15 to 20 people were injured. Photo: Reuters
Members of the Red Cross stand near a destroyed area after an explosion at a hotel in Cancun. At least five Canadian tourists and two workers were killed in the gas explosion at the hotel in the beach resort of Playa del Carmen on Mexico's Caribbean coast. A child was among the dead and about 15 to 20 people were injured. Photo: Reuters
Papers, boxes, among other debris are pictured on the lawn at the site of an explosion at a hotel in Cancun. At least five Canadian tourists and two workers were killed in the gas explosion at the hotel in the beach resort of Playa del Carmen on Mexico's Caribbean coast. A child was among the dead and about 15 to 20 people were injured. Photo: Reuters

Published Nov 15, 2010

A suspected gas explosion ripped through a Mexican hotel, killing five Canadian tourists and two Mexican staff members while injuring 17 other people, said officials who ruled out an attack. Army and police personnel rushed to the blast and cordoned off the Grand Riviera Princess hotel in Playa del Carmen, on Mexico's Caribbean coast near the major resort city of Cancun.

The explosion killed "seven people, five Canadians - four men, one woman - and two Mexicans who worked at the hotel," Quintana Roo state attorney general Francisco Alor Quezada told Milenio television.