Victim of Pemex explosion dies, death toll at 38

Mexico city, Feb 9 (AP) Mexico's federal Health Department says another person injured by last week's explosion at the headquarters of the country's state-owned oil company has died, raising the death toll to 38. A statement issued yesterday says 19 people remain hospitalized, two of them in critical condition. The January 31 blast at one of the buildings at the Petroleos Mexicanos complex in Mexico City also injured 120 people. Executives at Pemex have said a water-heating system may have leaked methane gas into a tunnel beneath the headquarters for more than seven months. They say the blast could have been set off by a maintenance crew's improvised lighting system. (AP) ST HAZ 02091300 NNNN