Scramble for survivors as quake kills 250 in Mexico

MEXICO CITY, Wednesday

At least 248 people were killed when a powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck Mexico Wednesday, including 21 children crushed beneath an elementary school that was reduced to rubble.

The destruction revived horrific memories in Mexico on the anniversary of another massive quake in 1985, the disaster-prone country’s deadliest ever.

One of the most gut-wrenching scenes was at the Enrique Rebsamen Primary School on Mexico City’s south side, whose three floors collapsed into one, trapping students and teachers inside.

Twenty-one children and five adults were killed, said Major Jose Luis Vergara of the Mexican Navy, who was coordinating a rescue effort that involved hundreds of soldiers, police, civilian volunteers and rescue dogs.

PRECARIOUS SITUATION

He said another 30 to 40 people remained trapped inside, while 11 children have been rescued so far.

Emergency workers found a teacher and a student alive beneath the rubble and are trying to get them out, he said. But the situation was precarious.

Late into the night, part of the wreckage collapsed as rescuers continued their search.

Local media reports said soldiers had administered oxygen to one trapped child through a tube.

President Enrique Pena Nieto, who rushed to the site, warned the death toll could rise.

DEATH TOLL

“Unfortunately, many people have lost their lives, including children, in schools, buildings and homes,” he said in a national address.

The devastation struck across a swath of central states and the death toll as of early Wednesday was 248, the head of the national disaster response agency, Luis Felipe Puente, said on Twitter.

In addition to Mexico City, people were also killed in Puebla, Morelos, Mexico state and Guerrero, said Interior Minister Miguel Osorio Chong.

Well after nightfall, rescue crews and volunteers in Mexico City — home to 20 million people — were still clawing through the rubble of dozens of collapsed buildings looking for survivors and bodies.

DESPERATE RELATIVES

Local media reported that families were getting WhatsApp messages pleading for help from desperate relatives trapped under debris.

Memories of the devastating 1985 earthquake, which killed at least 10,000 people, surged to the surface on what was meant to be a low-key 32nd anniversary.

Adding to the national sense of vulnerability, the quake also came just 12 days after another temblor that killed nearly 100 people and left more than 200 injured, mainly in the southern states of Oaxaca and Chiapas.

Many in the capital ran outdoors when walls around them swayed and cracked.

CHAOS

“I’m so worried. I can’t stop crying. It’s the same nightmare as in 1985,” Georgina Sanchez, 52, sobbed to AFP in a plaza in the capital.

The quake — which occurred in the early afternoon, hours after city authorities had conducted an earthquake drill — caused massive damage in the bustling centre of the city.
“It was horrible,” said resident Leiza Visaj Herrera, 27. “I had to hold on to the ground.”

Scenes of chaos erupted in the quake’s aftermath.

Traffic jammed to a standstill before blanked-out stop lights, and anxious people ran between vehicles as ambulances tried to make headway, sirens blaring.