TULTEPEC, Mexico — The San Pablito fireworks market was especially well stocked for the holidays and bustling with hundreds of shoppers when a powerful chain-reaction explosion ripped through its stalls, killing at least 31 people and leaving dozens more badly burned.

The third such blast to ravage the market on the northern outskirts of Mexico’s capital since 2005 sent up a towering plume of smoke that was lit up by a staccato of bangs and flashes of light. Once the smoke cleared, the open-air bazaar was reduced to a stark expanse of ash, rubble and the charred metal of fireworks stands, casting a pall over the country’s Christmas season.

Mexico State health officials said about 60 people were hospitalized for injuries from Tuesday’s explosion, including for severe burns, in some cases over 90 percent of their bodies.  On Wednesday, 47 people remained hospitalized, among them, ten children. Authorities have not yet said what may have caused the explosions which took place in Mexico State, which rings the capital.