Frantic dig for children
THE wiggling fingers of a young girl trapped in the rubble of her collapsed school in Mexico City raised hopes and prodded rescuers to work furiously hour after hour yesterday in a delicate effort trying to free her from unstable debris — a drama that played out at dozens of buildings toppled by a powerful earthquake that killed at least 230 people.
But it was the rescue operation at the Enrique Rebsamen school, where at least 21 children and four adults perished in Tuesday’s quake, that was seen as emblematic of Mexicans’ rush to save survivors before time runs out.
Helmeted workers spotted the girl buried in the debris early yesterday and shouted to her to move her hand if she could hear. She did, and a rescue dog was sent inside to confirm she was alive. One rescuer told local media he had talked to the girl, who said her name was Frida.
Hours later the crews were still labouring to free her as images of the rescue effort were broadcast on TV screens nationwide.
Workers in neon vests and helmets used ropes, pry-bars and other tools, frequently calling on the anxious parents and others gathered around to be silent while they listened for any other voices from beneath the school.
At one point, the workers lowered a sensitive microphone inside the rubble to scan for any noise or movement. A rescuer said they thought they had located someone, but it wasn’t clear who.
“It would appear they are continuing to find children,” said Carlos Licona, a burly sledgehammer wielding volunteer who came to help in any way he could. Asked if that made him optimistic, he said, “I hope so.”
But by late that night, workers had not been able to get to her, although workers found four corpses in the rubble, volunteer rescue worker Hector Mendez said.
By mid-afternoon, 52 people had been pulled out alive since Tuesday’s magnitude 7.1 quake, Mexico City’s Social Development Department said, adding in a tweet: “We won’t stop.”
Among them were 11 people rescued at the Enrique Rebsamen school, where three people remained missing, two children and an adult. Earlier, journalists saw rescuers pull two small bodies from the rubble, covered in sheets.
More than 24 hours after the collapse, the debris being removed from the school began to change as crews worked their way inside: from huge chunks of brick and concrete, to pieces of wood that looked like remnants of desks and panelling, to a final load that contained a half dozen sparkly hula-hoops.
A helicopter overflight of some of the worst-hit buildings revealed the extent of the damage wrought by the quake: three mid-rise apartment buildings on the same street pancaked and toppled in one Mexico City neighbourhood; dozens of streets in the town of Jojutla, in Morelos state, where nearly every home was flattened or severely damaged and a ruined church where 12 people died inside.
President Enrique Pena Nieto declared three days of national mourning even as authorities made rescuing the trapped and treating the wounded their priority. “Every minute counts to save lives,” Pena Nieto tweeted.