Culture

The Mexico City Earthquake Death Toll Has Risen To 217, Including 21 Children In A Collapsed School

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The morning after a devastating 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck Mexico City and the surrounding region, new reports indicate the death toll has risen to 217. Luis Felipe Puente, the director of the country’s civil protection agency, tweeted the new number early Wednesday morning, along with a breakdown of the numbers for each of the affected Mexican states. Many of the confirmed deaths were attributed to dozens of building collapses, many of which were captured and posted on social media by people fleeing the destruction. One of these includes an elementary school where at least 21 children are believed to be dead.

According to The Daily Beast, “The four-story Colegio Enrique Rebsamen private school crumbled in the middle of the school day, killing at least two adults in addition to the nearly two dozen children.” Another thirty children and eight adults who worked, or were present, at the school building when it collapsed are still missing. The New York Times adds first responders, random passersby and others on the site (and others) were “frantically digging out people trapped under rubble” throughout the rest of the day and night on Tuesday, as well as early Wednesday morning. Despite their efforts, the scene was understandably chaotic:

The scene at the collapsed school, Colegio Enrique Rebsamen in the southern part of the capital, was one of total anguish Tuesday night, as hundreds of volunteers clamored to unearth children they hoped were still alive beneath the structure’s ruins. Dozens of workers carting megaphones called out contradictory instructions, while others yelled for resources like batteries, flashlights and diesel fuel.

Volunteers kept lists of every dead child’s name that was confirmed by the rescuers as they emerged from the wreckage. Frenzied parents paced the scene, wondering about the fates of their sons and daughters or screaming in agony upon seeing their bodies.


Throughout the evening, new videos from various rescue sites throughout the city — as well as additional videos of the earthquake itself — have gone viral.

Apparently, so many volunteers showed up at the Colegio Enrique Rebsamen collapse, officials had to turn them away on Tuesday.

(Via New York Times and The Daily Beast)