Mexico toll hits 320 in grim rubble

THE DEATH toll from Mexico’s massive earthquake rose to 320 on Sunday as rescuers scrambled to dig through the remnants of toppled buildings.

Mexico’s marines have recovered 102 bodies and rescued 115 people in the aftermath of the magnitude-7.1 earthquake.

Civil Defense chief Luis Felipe Puente reported Sunday on Twitter that 181 people died in Mexico City. Another Mexico City death was reported later. There were also 73 deaths in Morelos State, 45 in Puebla, 13 in the State of Mexico, six in Guerrero and one in Oaxaca.

Two women, ages 52 and 83, died of heart attacks during a Saturday morning aftershock, officials said.

Tuesday’s earthquake has left thousands homeless and many others unsure they can return due to damage.

Over the weekend, engineers inspected 7,649 properties, with 87% deemed safe, Mexico City Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera said.

That means close to 1,000 were found to be unsafe, a figure that is expected to rise as more reviews are conducted.

Close to 17,000 people have been “attended to” at 48 shelters, Mancera reported. Others are camping out in front of damaged homes and apartment buildings.

Meanwhile, the search for survivors continued in a race against the clock.

Rescuers yanked a small dog alive from the rubble of a collapsed building in Mexico City. A Japanese search-andrescue team cradled the white dog as they carried it down from the debris in footage broadcast on Milenio TV.

In Mexico City, rescuers dug through the ruins of an office building in the central neighborhood of Condesa and at a school where 21 children died.

Search and rescue efforts in the Mexico City area could last “for at least two more weeks,” Puente, the civil defense chief, told CNN affiliate Foro TV.

The chance of finding survivors dramatically decreases three days after an earthquake because it’s nearly impossible to survive that long without water. Rescuers vowed to press on and were concentrating on eight collapsed buildings around the capital.