The container of a gas tanker broke loose and exploded on a highway north of Mexico City, landing between houses and sparking fires that killed at least 24 people and injured dozens. The blast rocked the suburb of Ecatepec before dawn, injuring at least 36 people and damaging about 15 cars and 40 homes, officials said. Ten children were among the dead, and eight others were injured. Nearby buildings, cars and trucks caught fire when the tanker exploded about 5:30 a.m. in the poor community of San Pedro Xalostoc, part of the municipality of Ecatepec. Several sheep, rabbits and dogs belonging to residents lay dead in the neighborhood. One of the truck’s two containers broke loose and fell on the community below, Transport Minister Gerardo Ruiz Esparza said. An AFP reporter saw the tanker on a terrace between two houses, surrounded by the charred remains of a handful of cars. The first tanker was still attached to the cab of the truck on the road and authorities were pumping gas out of it to prevent another disaster. Authorities were investigating the cause of the accident. A couple and their two children, aged six and 12, were killed when the tanker landed near their home, according to the father’s cousin. “I ran out and sought refuge on nearby roads after I heard the thunder,” Humberto Zedillo, 45, told AFP. “I saw my relatives’ house in flames and when I returned, forensic experts were clearing away my relatives’ bodies.” Firefighters searched the rubble for more victims after the explosion left charred remains of vehicles, blew concrete barriers off the highway and sent smoke billowing from buildings. The death toll rose throughout the day and a spokeswoman for the Federal Highway Agency said 24 people had died late Tuesday. Officials said 13 of the injured were in serious condition. The driver survived the crash and was “admitted to a hospital where he is receiving medical treatment,” Salvador Neme, Mexican state’s public security undersecretary, wrote on Twitter. Transportation Minister Gerardo Ruiz Esparza said the truck and driver’s paperwork were in order. The truck belonged to a company called Termogas. The highway connecting the capital with the central city of Pachuca began to gradually reopen hours after the accident. President Enrique Pena Nieto expressed his condolences to the victims’ families and ordered his government to take measures to improve safety around the highway. Official figures show that more than 24,000 people die in road accidents in Mexico each year, and experts warn of the dangers posed by trucks carrying dangerous goods. Trucks carrying dangerous goods were involved in nearly 1,200 collisions between 2006 and 2009, killing 196 people and injuring 838 others, according to a study by Mexico’s state-run transport institute. The transport minister said the government would study the need for stricter traffic rules for trucks, as Mexico has less stringent weight and size limits than developed countries. In April last year, 43 people died in the eastern state of Veracruz when a tractor-trailer lost its trailer and collided with a bus full of farmers.