Shattered and overwhelmed, a young rescue worker breaks down in tears as he unearths a dead mother and daughter in the wreckage of Mexico’s devastating earthquake.
Bent double with head in hands after seven days of painstaking digging, he is embraced by his fellow workers in Morelos.
The heart-wrenching picture has gone viral online with the father and husband of the dead pair – Marco Gil Vela – thanking the stranger for trying to save his loved ones.
Devastation: Bent double with head in hands after seven days of painstaking digging, a young worker is embraced by his fellow rescuers in Morelos
The heartbroken professor of photography made the image his cover photo on Facebook and wrote to the rescuer: ‘Without knowing it you gave me the opportunity to say goodbye to my wife and daughter.’
Mexicans have heaped praise on the worker and sent kind messages to the father. One wrote: ‘My most heartfelt condolences and admiration to you. You have the courage to feel the pain of a loss in the soul.’
Specialist teams and volunteers are still working day and night to rescue any survivors after the magnitude 7.1 quake last Tuesday which killed at least 300.
The number is expected to rise as rescue operations continue.
The heart-wrenching picture has gone viral online with the father and husband of the dead pair – Marco Gil Vela (pictured with his wife) – thanking the stranger for trying to save his loved ones
Mexicans have heaped praise on the rescuer and sent kind messages to the father (pictured with his wife and child)
Yesterday a dog was pulled alive from the rubble, offering a glimmer of hope to Mexico City amid the devastation.
The Schnauzer was pulled alive and well from the wreckage as disaster relief teams from across the globe worked to recover what is left of the city.
Japanese disaster relief team workers along with the local emergency medics were pictured carrying the small dog from the rubble of a flattened building before carrying it to safety.
A schnauzer dog who survived the quake is pulled out of the rubble from a flattened building by rescuers in Mexico City on September 24, 2017
Japanese rescue workers reach a dog in a collapsed building where the search of victims continues, in Mexico City, Mexico
Japanese disaster relief team workers along with the local emergency medics are pictured carrying the small dog from the rubble of a flattened building before carrying it to safety
A schnauzer dog who survived the quake is pulled out of the rubble from a flattened building by rescuers who carry it to safety in Mexico City on September 24, 2017
In spite of the miraculous recovery of the white pooch, hopes of finding more survivors after the devastating earthquake have dwindled to virtually nothing, nearly a week after the seismic jolt shook the mega-city, killing more than 300 people.
But authorities were still accommodating anguished families who insisted that painstaking rescue operations continue at a handful of the dozens of buildings toppled by the magnitude 7.1 quake that struck Tuesday.
Foreign teams from Israel, the US and elsewhere worked with dogs and hi-tech gear to try to detect signs of life under the rubble.
In the first three days, 69 people were pulled out alive.
But since late Friday, only bodies have been recovered.
Spanish rescue brigades continue the search for victims among collapsed buildings in Mexico City, Mexico, 24 September 2017
Mexican and Israeli specialists work at the site of a building felled by a 7.1-magnitude earthquake, in Mexico City, Mexico
Soldiers stand guard beside a collapsed house after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake in San Gregorio Atlapulco in Mexico
A rescue dog is lifted via a ladder to the site of a search and rescue operation at a building felled by a 7.1-magnitude earthquake, in the Ciudad Jardin neighborhood of Mexico City (left) and members of rescue teams and volunteers continue to search for people under the rubble of a collapsed housing unit (right)
A rescue worker uses a drill to break up concrete at the site of an office building felled by a 7.1-magnitude earthquake, in the search for people who are believed to be trapped inside at the corner of Alvaro Obregon and Yucatan streets in Mexico City
A police officer stands next to cars destroyed in an earthquake in Mexico city which has so far claimed the lives of 300 people
On a poster in front of a collapsed office block where several people were trapped by the quake, a picture of one of those inside read: ‘Adrian, you are a warrior. Your family, friends and Dario are waiting for you.’
A series of smaller earthquakes in the south of Mexico on Saturday – including a 6.1-magnitude tremor that triggered seismic alerts – stoked panic in a population traumatized by Tuesday’s disaster.
Two women in the capital died of heart attacks.
The shaking also forced a brief suspension of rescue efforts which have been painstakingly complex due to the instability of the structures.
Rescue workers have been having to carry sniffer dogs up ladders using harnesses in order to ensure their safety.