An explosion at Becle's Casa Cuervo distillery in the town of Tequila, Mexico, has claimed six lives.

A 500,000-litre tank ignited and exploded on Tuesday (23 July), killing six workers and injuring two others.

The cause of the blast is unknown.

It also damaged the facility and set nearby tanks on fire, the chief of emergency services and firefighters in Jalisco state told Reuters.

“The fire reached a 200-litre drum containing raw material waste. Thanks to the rapid and efficient intervention of the municipal civil protection staff, in coordination with the company's Internal Civil Protection unit, the fire was brought under control,” Jalisco’s civil protection and firefighters authority said on social media.

An additional fire occurred in a storage area for packaging materials but was quickly put out by firefighters.

The local authorities said they are continuing to monitor the situation.

Just Drinks has contacted Becle for comment.

Becle is a family owned spirits company headquartered in Mexico, which claims to be the world’s largest Tequila producer. Its Tequila brands include Jose Cuervo Especial, Gran Coramino, Tequila Jaja and Maestro Dobel.

In March, a US investment firm delivered a letter to Becle urging the producer to increase shareholder value by considering a sale or merger.

Marathon Partners Equity Management, which beneficially owns in excess of 15 million common stock shares, recommended Becle look at “broader” options for raising shareholder value.

It said “shares have performed quite poorly” since Becle went public in 2017 and suggested the Mexico-listed company relist to a more lucrative stock exchange.

In 2023, Becle’s earnings per share fell to 1.32 pesos (US$0.08) from 1.64 pesos in 2022. In the fourth quarter, however, EPS rose to 0.55 pesos compared to 0.39 pesos in Q4 2022.

Becle posted net sales of 44.4bn pesos ($2.39bn), a 3.3% decrease on 2022. EBITDA fell 25.7% to 7.3bn pesos while net income fell 19.5% to 4.7bn pesos. Operating income fell 29.8% to 6.2bn pesos.