Mexico makes frantic search for survivors
Death toll from massive magnitude 7.1 earthquake rises to 230 as rescuers find life and heartache.
MEXICO CITY — Firefighters, soldiers and volunteers, at times working with bare hands and donated flashlights, searched massive piles of rubble for any signs of life Wednesday after a violent earthquake that toppled buildings across central Mexico.
There were moments of relief when still-breathing, dust-covered survivors were pulled from the wreckage and transported to hospitals. But many others were found dead.
Tuesday’s magnitude 7.1 earthquake, the second to strike Mexico in as many weeks, killed at least 230 people in the capital and across five states. Officials said the toll was likely rise.
Some of the most heartwrenching scenes played out at a three-story school building that pancaked into a pile of concrete rubble on the south side of Mexico City. Rescue workers extracted at least 25 bodies from the ruins, all but four of them children.
But the wiggling fingers of a young girl trapped in the rubble raised hopes among hundreds of rescuers working furiously to try to free her — a drama that played out at dozens of buildings.
Hours later the crews were still laboring to free her, as images of the rescue effort were broadcast on TV screens nationwide.
“It would appear they are continuing to find children,” said Carlos Licona, a burly sledge-hammer wielding volunteer who came to help in any way he could. Asked if that made him optimistic, he said, “I hope so.”
Five people were killed at the Mexico City campus of the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, the school said in a statement. Scores more died in collapsed apartment buildings and office towers.
The quake hit on the anniversary of a 1985 temblor that killed thousands and devastated large parts of Mexico City. The epicenter was in the state of Puebla, 80 miles southeast of the capital.
President Enrique Pena Nieto toured some of the worst-hit parts of the city and also visited the state of Morelos. He declared three days of national mourning to honor the victims, telling their loved ones, “Mexico shares your pain.”
With glass and debris strewn across the capital and power still out in places, many residents would need help in the coming days, he said in a video address to the nation late Tuesday. But the first priority would be to rescue those still trapped under the rubble and provide medical care to the injured.
“As Mexicans, we have experienced difficult times because of earthquakes in the past, and we have learned to respond with dedication and a spirit of solidarity,” he said.
President Donald Trump called his Mexican counterpart Wednesday to extend his condolences for the lives lost and damage caused by the quake, according to a statement from the White House. Trump also offered assistance, including search and rescue teams, which were being deployed to Mexico.
Trump was criticized for not immediately expressing sympathy to Mexico after another deadly earthquake struck off the country’s southern coast Sept. 7 and a hurricane made landfall two days later. At the time, Trump blamed poor cellphone reception in the mountains of Mexico for the delay in reaching Pena Nieto.
“God bless the people of Mexico City,” Trump tweeted Tuesday. “We are with you and will be there for you.”
Federal authorities in Mexico struggled to confirm the number of dead and injured amid the chaos of a rescue operation spread across hundreds of miles, revising figures several times Wednesday.
As of Wednesday night, the death toll stood at 230, tweeted Luis Felipe Puente, Mexico’s national coordinator for civil protection. They included 100 people killed in the autonomous district of Mexico City, 69 in Morelos, 43 in the state of Puebla and 13 in Mexico state. There were four deaths in Guerrero state and one in Oaxaca state.
At least 800 people were injured in Mexico City.
Signs of the quake were all over the city Wednesday: broken glass under a business awning; swept-up piles of brick, concrete and steel rebar; caution tape blocking structurally unsound doorways.
School was canceled and many businesses were closed.
Hordes of people gathered at the sites of dozens of collapsed buildings. They came from all walks of life, bringing water, food and safety supplies. They asked how they might help. There were so many of them that sometimes they had to be turned away.
“Every minute counts to save lives,” Pena Nieto tweeted.