A series of massive explosions destroyed a fireworks market outside the Mexican capital on Tuesday, killing at least 31 people, injuring dozens and leaving the market a charred wasteland.

Television images showed a flurry of multicolored pyrotechnics exploding into the early afternoon sky as a giant plume of smoke rose above the market. Fireworks detonated in a peal of clattering bursts reminiscent of a war zone.

It was the third time in just over a decade that explosions have hit the popular San Pablito marketplace in Tultepec, about 30 kilometers north of Mexico City. The detonations struck in the runup to the busy Christmas holiday, when many Mexicans stock up on fireworks.