A leak from the hose of a gas truck fueling a Mexico City’s hospital tanks has triggered an explosion that blew away major parts of a maternity hospital west of Mexico City, killing seven people including three children, and several others missing in the mishap.
According to police officials, about 100 people were reportedly at the hospital when the gas truck explosion occurred, and while about 60 people have been accounted for from the wreckage, about 40 others have not been found.
While many injured were evacuated by helicopter, several firefighters were seen in an aerial footage scrambling over the hospital building wreckage to look for survivors. According to Mexico City Mayor, Miguel Angel Mancera, several dozens of children and women were saved from the explosion site, many of them sustaining cuts from broken glass.
“They tried to stop the leak, but it was not possible,” Mancera said.
As rescue workers scoured the rubbles of fallen concrete and twisted metal in search of survivors, several babies were found alive under the rubble and rescued, but several others remain unaccounted for.
“I am so worried about my sister, she’s supposed to have given birth, we brought her in yesterday,” said Monserrat Garduno, a 32-year-old nurse. “They won’t let us pass, I want to know how she is.”
Garduno was one of hundreds of people gathered beyond police lines wanting to learn about their loved ones who were at the hospital at the time of the explosion; and police had difficulty keeping chaotic bystanders away from the disorderly scene.
President Enrique Pena expressed his sadness over the incident and offered words of consolation to families of missing persons; he made his post via Twitter.