'EVERYTHING IS DESTROYED'
Rescue workers in central Mexico raced against the clock Wednesday to find survivors of Tuesday’s 7.1-magnitude earthquake — as US officials predicted that the disaster could claim up to 1,000 lives.
“The priority continues to be rescuing people from collapsed buildings and taking care of the injured,” Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto said. “Every minute counts to save lives.”
With at least 230 confirmed dead in Mexico City and outlying rural areas, the earthquake became the deadliest to hit the country since 1985.
It was the second fatal quake to strike this month, after an 8.1magnitude temblor killed at least 90 people in the country’s south Sept. 7.
As of Wednesday afternoon, just over 50 people had been pulled alive from the ruins of the latest disaster.
The US Geological Survey predicts up to 1,000 fatalities and $10 billion worth of damage. It forecasts fatalities by measuring a quake’s intensity and factoring in the population, condition of structures and the prevalence of quake-related after-effects, such as mudslides.
Shaken residents had a glimmer of hope early in the day as rescuers worked to free a girl from the rubble of the collapsed Enrique Rebsámen School, where 21 kids and four adults had already been found dead.
Emergency workers found the child after seeing her move her hand amid the wreckage, and threaded a hose into the debris to give her water.
They erected makeshift wooden scaffolding to support the lurching wreckage as they delicately labored to extricate the youngster.
A teacher and two students also sent rescuers texts from within the rubble Wednesday morning, but officials warn that their time may be running out.
Emergency personnel at the time said that the odds of finding survivors more than a day after the quake were rapidly diminishing, according to the Televisa TV station.
International protocols require that rescuers must search for 72 hours, the station noted.
“It would appear they are continuing to find children,” said Carlos Licona, a burly sledgehammer-wielding volunteer.
But parents on the scene were becoming increasingly concerned about their missing children.
“They keep pulling kids out, but we know nothing of my daughter,” a bleary-eyed Adriana D’Fargo, 32, told Reuters as she held out hope for her 7-year-old.
Student Rodrigo Heredia, 13, who escaped the collapse, said he was “without words.”
“I do not know how to explain it. It was very hard to see how everything was destroyed,” he told Televisa.
Incredibly sad tales of death and destruction continued to emerge on Wednesday.
Eleven members of one family attending a christening died Tuesday when the church roof collapsed on them in the town of Atzala, officials said.
The 2-month-old girl being christened at Santiago the Apostle Catholic Church was among the dead. The only people inside who survived were the baby’s dad, the priest and an assistant to the priest, the Archdiocese of Puebla said. At least four of the dead were children.
Graciano Villanueva Perez, 73, who lost six relatives in the church collapse, told The Los Angeles Times, “I am in profound pain. I am shattered.”
Meanwhile, foreign aid is streaming into the country.
The US Agency for International Development announced Wednesday that it is sending a disaster-response team to Mexico. The team includes members of the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, as well as a search-andrescue crew from the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
The State Department previ- ously had offered aid that was contingent on Mexico’s requesting the assistance.
The nation decided to take the US up on its offer hours after a “lengthy” phone call between President Trump and Nieto.
Trump “also pledged to continue close coordination with Mexico as the two countries respond to the recent earthquakes and hurricanes,” a statement from the White House read.
Israel is sending a 70-person contingent, and even secured a special dispensation from the Israeli Defense Force’s chief rabbi so they could work during the Rosh Hashanah holiday, when
such activities are generally forbidden under religious law.
Canada, Japan and Russia have also pledged support, along with El Salvador, Chile and Ecuador to the south.
Nieto tweeted out his thanks to the international community for its support.
“On behalf of @Mexico thanks, with deep emotion, signs of solidarity and support from friendly countries #FuerzaMéxico,” Nieto tweeted Wednesday.
Sports and cultural institutions are also at center stage of the killer quake’s aftermath.
Officials warned rescuers and aid-seekers to steer clear of Mex- ico City’s famed Plaza Condesa concert venue for fear the six-story music house could fall in on itself.
And several soccer venues, including Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium, are now being used as relief centers.
The famed soccer cathedral was going to be scene of Saturday’s hotly anticipated “Clasico Naciional” match between Chivas and America.
But all weekend matches of Liga MX were canceled, officials announced on Wednesday. The league urged fans to spend the weekend volunteering in rescue and recovery efforts.