Children among 23 dead after packed supermarket explodes in Mexico

A dozen people have been treated for injuries.

Most of the deaths appeared to have been from inhalation of toxic gases, said Gustavo Salas, the state's attorney general, citing its forensic medical service.

He said: “We have no indication that leads us to presume the fire was intentional", added Mr Salas, emphasising that authorities are not ruling out any line of investigation, but there was no evidence to even "suggest that possibility”.

He added: "We are at the forensic medical service of the prosecutor's office, where we currently have eight families who are looking for 14 relatives who are presumed to be unidentified at the Semefo facilities.

"They will surely be identified in the next few hours. We are first organising them with photographs, and later they will likely conduct physical identifications.

"The majority of those who died were from inhalation of toxic gases."

The cause of the now-extinguished fire was still unclear, although some media outlets blamed an electrical failure.

City officials said the store, part of the popular discount chain Waldo's, was not the target of an attack.

An investigation into the cause of the fire is underway.

"My deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of those who died in the fire," President Claudia Sheinbaum said in a post on X.

She added that she had directed support teams to be sent to help victims' families and the injured.

Thick black smoke was seen pouring from the store as shoppers fled.

Footage posted online showed firefighters fighting the inferno amid destroyed vehicles and rubble.

Authorities said the fire destroyed the store and damaged nearby buildings.

The Red Cross stated that more than 40 staff members and 10 ambulances responded, making multiple trips to nearby hospitals.

The incident coincided with a Mexican weekend festival, the Day of the Dead, where family and friends gather, remember, and honour their deceased loved ones in a festive, not sombre, atmosphere.

The holiday is a blend of ancient Aztec rituals that honoured the dead for thousands of years and the Catholic All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day, introduced by Spanish colonisers in the 16th century.

It is the worst fire disaster in Hermosillo since 2009, when a fire at a day care centre killed 49 children.