More Buildings, Perhaps Lives at Risk Following Mexico Quake

MEXICO CITY (AP) — As many as 360 buildings and homes are in danger of collapse or with major damage in Mexico City nearly a week after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake collapsed 38 structures. The risk of delayed collapse is real:  The cupola of Our Lady of Angels Church, damaged and cracked by the Sept. 19 quake, split in half and crashed to the ground Sunday evening. There were no injuries. Nervous neighbors continued calling police Monday as apparently new cracks appeared in their apartment buildings or existing ones worsened, even as the city struggled to get back to normality. Education Secretary Aurelio Nuno said Monday that officials had cleared only 676 of Mexico City's nearly 9,000 schools to reopen Tuesday and said it could be two to three weeks before all are declared safe, leaving hundreds of thousands of children idle. Mexico City Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera said at least seven schools were among the buildings thought to be at risk of tumbling. The frustrations of families with loved ones missing boiled over Monday night at the largest remaining search site, a collapsed seven-story office building. "What are they hiding from us," asked Javier Saucedo, father of 27-year-old Angel Javier Saucedo, who worked in the buidling. He complained that authorities have been removing bodies from the site without letting families know. "Why does our own government toy with the pain of the families," he said. "What they are doing is not fair." He ...
Source: JEMS: Journal of Emergency Medical Services News - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Major Incidents News Source Type: news