At least 23 dead in Mexico gas tanker explosion

A gas tanker exploded on a motorway in a Mexico City suburb early Tuesday morning, killing at least 23 people and injuring dozens more.

The natural gas tanker was travelling north along a highway between Mexico City and Pachuca in the suburb of Ecatepec at around 5am.

According to local police, the truck was speeding and the driver lost control, hitting a central divider and several cars.

Over a dozen cars and 45 houses along the eight-lane highway were hit by the blast, according to initial reports.

One of the truck's gas tanks was blown a hundred metres by the force of the blast, landing between two houses and atop parked cars.

One resident described seeing "a ball of fire" which resembled "a spotlight in the whole window.

Authorities opened a shelter for the nearly 100 people left homeless by the fiery blast.