Firefighters measure a 3-story pile of rocks at Talnepantala, on the outskirts of Mexico City.
A section of mountain on the outskirts of Mexico City changed course on Friday, eroding the size of tiny houses into a densely populated area, killing at least one person and leaving 10 others missing.
Firefighters climb a three-story pile of rocks that appears to be resting on homes in Talnepantla, which is part of the state of Mexico. The state surrounds the capital on three sides.
As rescuers climbed over the huge pile of rubble, they sometimes raised their fists in the air, a familiar sign of silence for those trapped below. Firefighters and volunteers form bucket brigades to clear away small 5-gallon containers of debris during excavations.
“Our priority at this moment is focused on rescuing those who were unfortunately shocked at the scene,” said Talnepantla Mayor Racil Perez Cruz in a video message. Authorities had evacuated nearby homes and asked people to stay away from the area so rescue workers could work.
Rescuers carried a body on a stretcher covered with sheets in front of AP reporters. The Mexico State Civil Protection Agency said in a statement that at least 10 people were reported missing.
Volunteers included 30-year-old construction worker Martin Carmona, 30, and his 14-year-old son. “They organized us into a chain to take out buckets of sand, stones and rubble,” Carmona said. “A co-worker lives there. Under the rubble are his wife and two young children.
Carmona and her son arrive at the pile before the government rescue team and their friend was already digging for his wife and children.
Neighbors started complaining that they needed more help and organization.
Carmona said rescue workers heard the children’s voices, but after two hours of debris removal, officials asked volunteers to leave the area. Only relatives stayed to help the rescuers.
The sniffer dogs climbed the rubble with their masters.
Ana Luisa Borges, 39, said she lives just three houses downstairs from the houses affected by the landslide.
“It was thundering badly,” he said of the sound of the slide. “I grabbed my youngest son and ran away (from home). Then came a huge cloud of dust.” Fortunately, her other four children were in school.
“There are many houses there,” she said of the slide area. “There was a building there, but they tell us there are people and children there. I saw a man had a head injury.”
Borges said she had been warned that another rock could come down and she didn’t know where they were going to sleep tonight.
“They have only told us that we have to leave (their homes),” she said.
Authorities in Talnepantala announced that they were opening several shelters for displaced residents.
The neighborhood is a pile of broken houses climbing up the mountain, many with corrugated tin roofs, separated just by a steep staircase.
A huge boulder stopped in front of a two-storey house, which was not equal to it, knocking down the front wall and dumping the contents of the house into the street. A path of destruction was discovered upwards.
Maximinio Andrade, who lives with his parents and siblings—14 family members in total—walked across the steep road, pushing a flat-screen television onto a hand cart, near the slide. He was not at home at the time of the landslide, but feared that thieves would enter as the surrounding houses had been evacuated.
“They have already started stealing from destroyed houses,” he said.
National Guard troops and rescue teams made their way through narrow streets carrying long ropes.
Images from the area show a section of the peak’s green, known as a Chiquihuit, closed over a field of giant rubble, with closely spaced houses on either side.
Alfredo del Mazo of the Mexican state government said via Twitter that local, state and federal officials were coordinating to secure the area in case of more slides and clearing debris to locate potential victims.
The landslide followed days of heavy rain in central Mexico and a magnitude 7.0 earthquake Tuesday night near Acapulco that shook buildings 200 miles (320 kilometers) away in Mexico City.
Visiting the site later on Friday, Del Mazo said officials believed four homes were destroyed in the landslide and another 80 were evacuated as a precaution.
“It is possible that the recent earthquakes and heavy rains have affected (the area) and have led to landslides and mountain breaches,” he said.
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