A dramatic video shows the moment children are rescued from a collapsed school building after a powerful magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit Mexico City on Tuesday killing at least 248 people and safety experts fear that number could climb up to 1,000.
The video filmed on Tuesday shows rescue workers and bystanders who noticed an opening in the structure of a building that collapsed at the Enrique Rebsamen primary and secondary schools.
They begin pulling the facade from the exterior of the building in an attempt to make the hole larger.
Crying children can be heard as firs responders try to calm the youngsters before they pick them up out of the destroyed school building.
Rescue personnel worked through the night and day on Wednesday in search of three missing people at the school, which has students as young as first-graders enrolled.
At least 21 children and four adults are among those who died in the quake when the three-story building at the school collapsed into a pile of rubble, Felipe Puente of the Ministry of the Interior’s Civil Protection unit said earlier Wednesday.
Another video shared to Twitter shows rescue workers trying to reach a little girl who was still alive in the building’s rubble on Wednesday evening. It’s unclear if workers have been able to save her as of 8.30pm ET, but CNN reported that first responders have been able to give the little girl water and oxygen.
A dramatic video shows the moment children are rescued from a collapsed school building after a powerful magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit Mexico City on Tuesday killing at least 248 people and safety experts fear that number could climb up to 1,000
The video filmed on Tuesday shows rescue workers and bystanders who noticed an opening in the structure of a building that collapsed at the Enrique Rebsamen school. They begin pulling the facade from the exterior of the building in an attempt to make the hole larger and crying children can be heard before they pick them up out of the destroyed school building
A little boy (above) was rescued from the collapsed building at the school on Tuesday by emergency workers and bystanders
Rescue personnel worked through the night and day on Wednesday in search of three missing people at the school, which has students as young as first-graders enrolled. At least 21 children are among those who died in the quake when the three-story building at the School collapsed into a pile of rubble
A video shared to Twitter showed rescue workers trying to reach a little girl who was still alive in the school building’s rubble on Wednesday (above) evening. It’s unclear if workers have been able to save her as of 8.30pm ET, but CNN reported that first responders have been able to give the little girl water and oxygen
Scientists with the US Geological Survey estimate that more than 1,000 people will perish as a result of the magnitude 7.1 quake. Above rescue workers signal for silence during search and rescue efforts at the school on Wednesday
They also predict the damage will reach up to $10billion for the huge temblor that struck 76 miles southeast of the earthquake-prone capital at 2.14pm on Tuesday. Above volunteers and rescue workers search for children trapped inside the school on Wednesday
Another video captured by American Alyne Tamir shows the moment a river covered with tourist boats near Mexico City was turned into a frothing torrent as the 7.1 magnitude quake hit on Tuesday
While Tamir can be heard saying ‘it’s not a good idea to be on this boat’ it seems she was one of the lucky ones as 248 people died in the tremor, with the majority of those in Mexico City
Scientists with the US Geological Survey estimate that more than 1,000 people will perish as a result of the magnitude 7.1 quake. They also predict the damage will reach up to $10billion for the huge temblor that struck 76 miles southeast of the earthquake-prone capital at 2.14pm on Tuesday.
The quake came on the 32nd anniversary of the notorious 1985 temblor that killed about 10,000 people. Just 12 days earlier, roughly 100 people died when a magnitude 8.1 earthquake struck off the Mexican Pacific coast.
Another video shows the shocking moment one of Mexico City’s most popular tourists attractions was turned into a frothing torrent when the quake struck.
American tourist Alyne Tamir filmed on her phone as the quake’s vibrations turned the usually tranquil canals of Xochimilco, in the north of the city, into a undulating, quivering mess.
While she can be heard saying ‘it’s not a good idea to be on this boat’, it seems she was one of the lucky ones as dozens were killed elsewhere.
Horrifying images coming out of the country’s capital show rubble strewn across roads and enormous chunks of collapsed buildings laying on the ground with hundreds of terrified locals fleeing onto the streets.
Volunteer rescue worker Pedro Serrano, 29, a doctor, was one of the rescuers who managed to make it inside the collapsed school where he found a classroom with all of the occupants dead.
‘We dug holes, then crawled in on our bellies,’ Serrano said.
Rescue workers celebrate as they pull a child alive from the remains of Rebsamen School where at least 20 children have been confirmed dead. 30 children and eight adults are still reported to be missing here
The quake on Tuesday happened just hours after nationwide practice drills, days after an 8.1-magnitude tremor struck the south of the country, and on the anniversary of another deadly quake in 1985
Rescue workers and volunteers search a building that collapsed in the Colonia Obrera neighborhood of Mexico City after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck Raboso, a town south of the capital on Tuesday
In Mexico City, the Enrique Rebsamen school (pictured) collapsed, killing 20 children and two adults on Tuesday
Thousands of people flooded into the ash-covered streets following the disaster as power was cut to 40 per cent of Mexico City, and 60 per cent of Mexico state on Tuesday
Rescue personnel and volunteers work on a four-story building that collapsed after an earthquake in Mexico City on Tuesday
Government workers and volunteers worked through the night Tuesday to try and uncover those trapped in the rubble, urging each-other to be quiet as they listened for cries coming from beneath tons of concrete
‘We managed to get into a collapsed classroom. We saw some chairs and wooden tables. The next thing we saw was a leg, and then we started to move rubble and we found a girl and two adults – a woman and a man.’
Asked if there was hope of finding anyone alive, Serrano looked weary but said workers were still trying despite the danger.
‘We can hear small noises, but we don’t know if they’re coming from above or below, from the walls above (crumbling), or someone below calling for help.’
On Tuesday night, President Donald Trump said on Twitter: ‘God bless the people of Mexico City. We are with you and will be there for you.’
His thoughts were echoed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who said he was saddened by the loss of life and damage resulting from the earthquake in Mexico.
He extended his condolences to the government and people of Mexico and wished those injured a speedy recovery, according to a statement released by his spokesman.
The earthquake also caught a news anchor in the middle of a broadcast, sending him running for cover as cameras and lights in the studio were thrown around
The newsreader initially remained calm even as the light flickered, but he was forced to leave the studio as it became apparent the city was experiencing a major earthquake
In this photo Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto (center) visits the remains of the school. Another 30 kids and eight adults are still missing inside it
People in Atzala, Puebla, eight miles from the epicenter of the earthquake, walk by the bodies of nine people – some apparently children – killed by the powerful earthquake
Rescue personnel work on a building that collapsed after an earthquake in the Colonia Obrera neighborhood of Mexico City
Families took to the streets to bed down for the night, fearful to go back into their homes in case aftershocks caused the already damaged building to collapse on them
Thousands of people have been displaced from their homes as a result of the second deadly earthquake to strike Mexico in as many weeks
Rubble is scooped away by the ton from a a collapsed building in Atlixco, Puebla state
A car lies crushed flat by rubble in Jojutla, Morelos state. The body count continued to crawl up by the hour on Tuesday
The epicenter of the quake was close to the town of Jojutla, south of Mexico City, where this store appeared to have been partially swallowed by he ground
A machine works on a destroyed hotel after an earthquake hit Atlixco, in Puebla state. The town is located 60 miles southeast of Mexico City
Mexico City has borne the brunt of the damage, with buildings collapsing across the city and thousands left on the street
Volunteer rescuers, along with firefighters, policemen and soldiers, continued toiling as night fell on Mexico City, hoping to free those trapped in the rubble as quickly as possible
Rescuers both professional and volunteer remove rubble and debris from a flattened building in Mexico City in search of survivors, under the glare of a bright spotlight
Thousands of volunteers armed with nothing more than buckets and shovels have rushed to help sift through the rubble of Mexico City and help search for survivors
Working only in artificial light and wreathed in dust, firefighters and paramedics continue to clear rubble after the quake in Mexico City. They are raising their arms to call for silence so that they can listen for the cries of trapped people
Firefighters (seen top-right quadrant of the photograph) scape a collapsed building in the glare of a spotlight in their continuing search for survivors in the Roma neighborhood of Mexico City
The statement said the United Nations stands ready to assist Mexico following the quake, which has killed at least 139 people and devastated central Mexico.
Meanwhile, the government of Mexico has declared a state of disaster in Mexico City, freeing up emergency funds.
President Enrique Pena Nieto said he had ordered all hospitals to open their doors to the injured after the magnitude 7.1 quake.
Elsewhere a newsreader had to interrupt his live broadcast as the earthquake struck, just days after another deadly disaster and hours after nationwide practice drills.
The anchor can be seen talking to the camera as the shaking starts, remaining remarkably calm even as the studio lights begin to flicker.
But moments later he is sent running for cover as it becomes clear the city is experiencing a major earthquake.
Despite the terrifying situation he continues trying to speak to the audience, though the audio is badly affected by the shaking.
A series of other camera shots from around the city capture buildings shaking
Meanwhile another video showed buildings at the Tec De Monterrey university campus in Mexico City collapsing as students flee for their lives.
Dozens of young people can be seen piling into the streets as the roof of a building behind them comes loose and the facade falls away.
The North American and Cocos tectonic plates rub one another, creating friction that causes earthquakes – sometimes, as in the case of Tuesday’s disaster, away from their edges. The September 7 earthquake is believed to be unconnected
This image from the US Geological Survey shows how various areas were affected as the shockwaves spread out across Mexico. Mexico City, being at the bottom of a former lake bed, was particularly badly hit
Donald Trump sent his thoughts, tweeting: ‘God bless the people of Mexico City. We are with you and will be there for you’
Emergency workers gather around the remains of an apartment building which was reduced to rubble by the earthquake
A survivor grimaces in pain as he is stretchered out of a collapsed building. The death toll currently stands at 248 on Tuesday
A man found underneath tons of collapsed rubble is given water by workers before being taken to hospital on Tuesday
Thousands of people have been injured in the quake, though official figures have yet to be reported amid widespread chaos on Tuesday
Workers have been holding up signs reading ‘silencio’ as they listen for the cries of people buried in the rubble on Tuesday
Rescue workers are dwarfed by the size of this massive collapsed building in Mexico City on Tuesday
Teams of soldiers and police hack at fallen concrete walls with pickaxes and shovels in Mexico City on Tuesday
Rescue workers help a woman strapped to a stretcher down the rubble of a collapsed building on Tuesday
Rescuers haul away chunks of concrete and stone away with their bare hands as they struggle to reach those beneath on Tuesday
A firefighter uses a flashlight to check a tiny, cramped space for trapped civilians in Mexico City on Tuesday
A split second later the building collapses in on itself. It is not clear if any students were inside at the time.
The Mexican government says a total of 209 schools were affected across the country by the quake, with 15 suffering ‘severe damage’.
Seismologists say the earthquake struck the Puebla region around 6.14pm local time at a depth of around 50km.
Luis Felipe Puente, the National Co-ordinator for Civil Protection, reported people killed across five states in central Mexico and more in Mexico City.
Mexico City, which was 75 miles from the epicenter of the quake, bore the brunt of the damage. The tremor struck near the Puebla state town of Raboso.
According to scientists, the cause of both large-scale quakes is due to the tectonic mechanism – the larger North American Plate is forcing the edge of the Cocos Plate to sink.
The collision of the two plates is likely what generated both earthquakes, however, experts say that it is unlikely that the first quake caused the horrific disaster on Tuesday.
The North American country is located in an area where several tectonic plates tend to come in contact with one another, unleashing huge amounts of energy.
In addition, Mexico City was built on an old lake sediment which is a lot softer than rock.