Outside quake stricken Mexico City, most kids going back to school

MEXICO CITY: Most schools in Mexico City remained closed yesterday after last week’s deadly earthquake, but children outside the capital were set to return to their classrooms, although aftershocks were still jolting the country.

Search operations in the Mexican capital were narrowed to a handful of buildings destroyed by the 7.1 magnitude earthquake last Tuesday that killed at least 320 people.

The quake rendered thousands of people homeless with many of them living in tents in the streets or emergency shelters, but there were signs that the 20 million people living the greater metropolitan area were gradually resuming their routines.

“Our neighborhood is in mourning,” said Deborah Levy, 44, from trendy Condesa district that was among the worst hit. “Some neighbors and friends got together (Sunday). We went to eat to cheer ourselves up, looking for a little normality.”

Some of the most affected neighborhoods, those built on top of a soft ancient lake bed, still had entire blocks cordoned off.

More than 44,000 schools in six states were due to reopen yesteray, but only 103 of them in Mexico City, which suffered most of the fatalities.

Officials said they did not want to impede relief efforts, so more than 4,000 public schools and nearly as many private schools in the capital will remain closed for now. — Reuters