Firefighters battle large blaze at sprawling Mexican market

Dozens of firefighters battled a huge blaze in Mexico City’s sprawling wholesale market Thursday night without any reported injuries. The Central de Abasto supplies the capital’s other neighborhood markets, restaurants and other parts of the country. Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said the fire started in an area of the market where wooden pallets and crates are built and stored, meaning there was substantial fuel on a breezy evening. Flames leapt high into the night sky fed by swirling winds. Juan Manuel Perez, the city’s fire chief, told Milenio TV that the immediate concerns were a nearby gas station, but some 80 firefighters on the scene were beginning to control some parts of the fire. The market covers more than 800 acres (327 hectares) in the capital’s most populated borough, Iztapalapa, and claims to be the world’s largest wholesale market. Thirty percent of Mexico’s food production is sold through the market, according to its website.