REYNOSA, MEXICO (AP) -- Mexican President Felipe Calderon says emergency workers' quick reaction to a pipeline fire that killed 26 workers prevented a "real catastrophe," by controlling the fire before it reached the massive tanks of a neighboring gas processing plant.
Calderon says the government will carry out an exhaustive investigation of the cause of the fire that also injured 46 workers.
Calderon said Wednesday that federal prosecutors will open a probe, even though Pemex officials say all indications so far point to an accidental leak.
A man who escaped the fire Tuesday said the force of the gas igniting caused the ground around the distribution center to shake.
Worker Esteban Vazquez Huerta said he scaled a wall to escape the compound.
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