At least nine people were killed while around 50 others were injured after a church roof collapsed in northern Mexico during a Mass on Sunday, authorities said.
Officials said that approximately 30 parishioners were believed to have been trapped in the wreckage when the roof caved in. Rescuers looked through the rubble late into the night looking for potential survivors and other victims.
They crawled under the roof slabs and officials brought in dogs to help search for possible survivors, as the Tamaulipas state police said that about 100 people were in the church at the time of the collapse.
The state security spokesman’s office said late Sunday that nine people had been confirmed dead from the collapse, which it described as likely being caused by “a structural failure,” ABC News reported.
Tamaulipas state police said units of the National Guard, the state police and state civil defence office and the Red Cross were involved in the operation.
10 migrants murdered, 17 others wounded as cargo truck overturns on highway in Mexico
Following the collapse of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tampico, a church in Santa Cruz in the Gulf coast city of Ciudad Madero, next to the port city of Tampico, the Mexican Council of Bishops issued a statement saying that “we join in prayer at the tragic loss of life and those injured.”
The diocese later posted a list of about 50 people who had been hospitalised as a result of the accident including a 4-month-old baby, three children 5-year-olds and two 9-year-olds. There was no immediate information on their conditions.
“From underneath the rubble, thanks to Divine Providence and the work of the rescue teams, people have been pulled out alive!” Alvarez’s diocese wrote in a statement posted on it social media accounts. “Let’s keep praying!”
He also called on anyone who had wood to donate to bring it to the church, apparently to shore up the roof while rescue teams crawled inside.
Parts of the roof fell to the ground. The structure, made of concrete and brick, was found to be a gabled structure, with the roof slab resting on the top of pews in some parts of the church.
The collapse was not due to an explosion, but rather a simple structural failure. The church’s collapse raises questions about the possibility of air spaces for survivors.
“At this time, the necessary work is being performed to extract the people who are still under the rubble,” Alvarez said in a taped message. “Today we are living through a very difficult moment.”
A video from the state civil defence office shows the collapsed roof of the church, with outer edges propped up by wooden blocks.
Initial attempts to lift parts of the roof were abandoned due to the risk of the slab falling back, endangering survivors.
Officials reverted to manual rescue efforts, sending rescuers under the slab with wood props or hydraulic jacks to reach those trapped underneath. Specially trained dogs were also sent to detect survivors.
The Civil Defence office said the dogs did not initially appear to detect signs of survivors, so an older method was implemented that had been used in past earthquakes: sending rescue teams into the rubble to shout and listen for signs of any response.
Building collapses in Mexico are not uncommon during earthquakes but this collapse was not caused by seismic activity, according to the National Seismological Service, nor was there any immediate indication of an explosion.
