I escaped Mexico's deadly gas explosion episode artwork

EPISODE · May 28, 2026 · 10 MIN

I escaped Mexico's deadly gas explosion

from Witness History · host BBC World Service

Just before dawn, on 19 November 1984, an explosion at a gas plant in San Juanico, Mexico killed hundreds of people, injured thousands and destroyed buildings.Virginia Martínez Tellez was a young teenager at the time and talks to Jen Dale about how she and her family escaped the intense heat and fire of what's considered one of the world's deadliest industrial gas accidents.This programme contains distressing content.Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more. Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.(Photo: The San Juanico explosion. Credit: GDA/Associated Press)

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published May 28, 2026

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I escaped Mexico's deadly gas explosion

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