Mexico earthquake: Searches could last weeks

by Dramelin 12:30 AM 0 comments

The good news, rescuers told Navarro and other relatives of the missing: Heat-sensing equipment indicates people may be alive in pockets of space amid the rubble of what had been a seven-story building.
The bad: Searchers have to move slowly and delicately, because the wreckage is unstable and could collapse further.
in west-central Mexico City when the quake hit Tuesday.
Family members have waited nearby ever since -- some of them staying overnight in tents -- monitoring the search and hoping for the best.
Relatives estimate up to 50 people were in the building along Avenida Alvaro Obregon Similar scenes have been playing out across central Mexico as volunteers joined trained search and rescue workers to try to reach possible survivors and clear rubble, days after the quake that officials say killed at least 298 people.
Navarro, who believes his brother, Jesus, was in the building at Avenida Alvaro Obregon, said rescuers told relatives that they haven`t made contact with anyone inside, and they`re approaching the site cautiously.
"If we make one wrong move, the (pockets of space where people might be) will collapse," Navarro said, citing what rescuers told him.
17 hours in the rubble Martin Mendez can laugh now.
When the earthquake brought down the Mexico City building in which the locksmith was working, Mendez was trapped for 17 hours, overwhelmed by the pain of a broken bone and worried his life-sustaining air would run out.
Three women tumbled around or on him.
One woman fell with such force his right leg was broken.
He is in a hospital now, and he recounted his ordeal to CNN on Friday.
"We had to hold on," he said.
The four calmed each other as the hours passed.
Rescuers would yell, "Is anyone in there alive?" but they couldn`t hear the group`s frantic replies.
Diana Pacheco texted her husband, told him where they were.
Still no rescue.
Mendez said they feared the air would run out.
But he kept his faith.
"I always believed I was going to get out alive," he said.
On Wednesday morning, they were pulled out.
Search to continue as long as there is hope The earthquake turned dozens of buildings in central Mexico into dust and debris.
Search and rescue efforts could last "for at least two more weeks," Luis Felipe Puente, Mexico`s civil protection coordinator, told CNN affiliate Foro TV on Friday.
"Our first phase is rescue and humanitarian aid," Puente said.
"Until we are absolutely certain that there are no more people missing, we will continue our search and rescue mission.
" `We brought wheelbarrows, shovels, mallets` Search teams from Israel, Japan and the United States joined the rescue efforts.
They spent a lot of time removing debris from around the ventilation duct work.
Throughout the region, buses carried volunteers from Mexico and beyond to disaster sites, where they bolstered search-and-rescue efforts.
People formed human chains to pass along supplies and remove chunks of lumber and concrete.
"We brought wheelbarrows, shovels, mallets.
Everybody has hard hats, gloves and is ready to help," Carreño told CNN.
President Enrique Peña Nieto declared a national emergency, and the country is observing three days of national mourning.
An unaccounted number of people are staying at shelters around the capital after losing their homes.
Schools have closed indefinitely, and millions initially were without power.
In all, 154 deaths were reported in Mexico City, one of North America`s most populous metropolises with more than 21 million people.
Elsewhere, 73 deaths were reported in Morelos state, 45 in Puebla state, 13 in the state of Mexico, six in Guerrero state and one in Oaxaca state.