MEXICO CITY - At least one person was killed and nine others injured Sunday in a gas blast in southeastern Mexico, local authorities said.

The blast occurred around 3 am (0900 GMT) at a butcher shop in downtown Xalapa, capital of the southeastern state of Veracruz, the local Attorney General's Office said.

The butcher shop and another house were destroyed.

Investigators believed that the blast might have been caused by an accumulation of gas.

On Thursday, a powerful gas explosion in a hospital in Mexico City killed three people and injured more than 70 others, 10 of whom are still in serious condition.