Mexico City, March 16 - Nine people were killed Friday when a vehicle carrying fireworks exploded during a religious festival in the central Mexican state of Tlaxcala, authorities said.

An undetermined number of people injured in the blast were taken to hospitals in Tlaxcala and the neighbouring state of Puebla.

"Unfortunately, we have nine deaths. We don't have the number of injured. They were all moving in a procession and someone launched fireworks and one of them fell where the (other fireworks) material was stored," Tlaxcala emergency services chief Jose Mateos Morales told reporters.

The explosion occurred as scores of people were walking through the streets of Jesus Tepactepec, carrying religious icons and performing ritual dances in connection with the feast of a local patron saint. (IANS)