Children among 23 killed in Day of the Dead supermarket explosion in Mexican shop tragedy

 

Video grab shows a thick cloud of smoke billowing out of a discount store in Mexico after a blaze broke out

 

At east 23 people were killed in Mexico on Saturday after a blaze broke out at a Waldo's discount shop in the city of Hermosillo

 

A car is set alight after the Waldo's fire spread to the vehicles parked outside

Sonora's Red Cross said its 40 staff and 10 ambulances joined in the effort, making six trips to the hospital.

The cause of the fire, now doused, was still unclear, though some media blamed an electrical failure. 

City officials said the store was not the target of an attack.

Mexico is celebrating the Day of the Dead this weekend with colourful festivities in which families honor and remember deceased loved ones.

The state government said it was cancelling cultural events planned for Sunday after the incident.  

The holiday, known in Spanish as 'Dia de los Muertos,' is especially popular in Mexico, but is also observed in other countries, including the US and Germany. 

Families gather to honour their ancestors with altars, marigolds and sugar skulls and also offer their deceased loved ones their favourite foods.  

Skeletons are central to the celebrations, symbolizing a return of the bones to the living world. Like seeds planted in soil, the dead disappear temporarily, only to return each year like the annual harvest.

 

 

Authorities and rescue teams work in the area where a fire inside a store killed multiple people, in Hermosillo, Mexico, November 1

 

Damaged vehicles are parked in front of a convenience store destroyed by a fire, in Hermosillo, Sonora state, Mexico, Saturday, November 1, 2025

Families place photographs of their ancestors on their ofrendas, which include paper decorations and candles, and are adorned with offerings of items beloved by their loved ones. 

The Day of the Dead fire in Mexico comes just days after a tourist cruise ship burst into flames on the River Nike, forcing the evacuation of 200 holidaymakers. 

Terrifying footage captured the Iberotel Crown Empress engulfed in an orange blaze with flames exploding from the windows as the vessel sailed between Luxor and Edfu, Egypt.

The fire is believed to have broken out in the ship's galley at around 6:15pm on Tuesday for reasons which are still being investigated. 

The inferno spread throughout the entire hull and left the cabins completely destroyed, forcing the ship's staff to activate the emergency alarm and move passengers to the upper deck.

Empress was quickly docked at an unofficial anchorage near Esna to allow for the evacuation of some 220 tourists of varying nationalities. No injuries or deaths have been reported following the incident.

The tourists on board had been partaking in their first day of a 12-day Nile river cruise when disaster struck.

'At 6:30pm, other boats shone flashlights toward our cabins. When we opened the window, we saw a huge plume of smoke on deck,' one passenger on board told VRT News.

 

The tragedy unfolded as Mexico celebrated the Day of the Dead this weekend. File photo: Two women join a  night procession during Dia de los Muertos

He explained that the evacuation process proved difficult as the fire had broken out on the ground floor so the tourists were not able to exit that way.

Passengers on board told how they had to leave their luggage behind as they made their quick escape.

The Public Prosecution office has begun its investigations, with initial findings indicating that the cause of the fire was an electrical short circuit in the ship's kitchen, as per local reports.