Hundreds evacuated as huge fire rips through centre of Mexico City

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

A huge fire broke out in the historic centre of Mexico City on Thursday, leading to hundreds of evacuations.

Videos from the scene showed a large plume of smoke rising from a shoe warehouse in the Centro neighbourhood, an area that includes historic landmarks dating back to the Aztec era.

Mexico City officials said the fire began at around 4.15pm on Thursday and was still not fully under control late into the evening.

Firefighters had doused around 90 per cent of the fire by 9.30pm local time. No casualties have yet been reported.

Mexico’s Excelsior newspaper reported that some 500 people in the area were evacuated, as the fire spread from the third floor of the shoe factory to other warehouses. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

The head of government of Mexico City, Martí Batres, said at least 120 firefighters were dispatched to the site to control the blaze. He wrote on X/Twitter: “Help has been received from all mayors and municipalities in the State of Mexico.

“We have water available from six wells and the help of six fire stations,” he said, while adding “work will still continue for several hours”.

Additional reporting by agencies