Rescue Teams Work To Find Survivors; Death Toll Over 200
Elements from the civil protection corps, Red Cross, army, Police and voluntary civilians worked through the day on Wednesday to remove rubble from collapsed buildings in Mexico City, after the magnitude-7.1 earthquake shook the center of the country on Tuesday.
The civil protection bureau on Wednesday said at least 230 people had died, including 100 deaths in the capital Mexico City.
Over 200 people gathered on the corner of the streets of Salamance, Nuevo Leon and Alvaro Obregon, where rescue workers sifted through the remains of an office block.
“It is thought there are between 40 and 60 people still there, but we don’t know their state,” one soldier participating in the rescue told Xinhua.
The area remains closed to traffic from the popular Espana Park to the Cibeles roundabout, where around 40 military vehicles are stationed with equipment and goods for the affected population.
The fountain of Cibeles, a famous tourist site in Mexico city, is also acting as a reception center for food, water and hygiene products as well as a first aid area.
“For the moment, only a few people have come with light injuries and another who had a nervous breakdown,” one of the volunteers told Xinhua.
Heavy machinery also joined the efforts in Amsterdam Avenue, one of the emblematic areas of the city, known for its chic atmosphere, filled with cyclists and dog walkers.
Mexico’s national coordinator of civil protection, Luis Felipe Puente, said rescue work had involved 4169 soldiers, 3525 navy elements and 20,057 federal Police officers.