Mexico City
Overpass collapse: At least 24 people were killed and 70 more injured this week when an elevated section of the Mexico City subway collapsed, sending train cars and tons of concrete plunging onto the busy highway below. The overpass was on one of the newest stretches of track, inaugurated in 2012. But residents had seen cracks in the pillars after a massive earthquake in 2017 and had expressed concern about its structural integrity. “There has to be a deep investigation,” said Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, “and whoever is responsible has to be held responsible.” Union leaders threatened a work stoppage on all subway lines, saying that “the whole system is at risk.”
Mexico City A shot of fun: To make the experience of getting a Covid-19 shot more enjoyable, vaccination centers in Mexico City are now entertaining waiting senior citizens with dancers, opera singers, and bare-chested Lucha Libre wrestlers. The idea of offering entertainment took off after one clinic in the borough of Iztacalco set up speakers to belt out disco hits and invited seniors to sing karaoke while they sat in line. “People were coming in really scared because they thought the vaccine would hurt them,” vaccine coordinator Beatriz Esquivel told The New York Times. “We wanted to relax them.” About 10 percent of Mexico’s population has received at least one vaccine shot; more than 217,000 of the country’s residents have died of Covid.