Rescuers race to find survivors as Mexico quake deaths climb

September 21, 2017 3oliver

NBC News

“People are sleeping in the streets, because they don’t feel safe enough to be inside damaged buildings,” Spencer said.

Tuesday’s earthquake came on the 32nd anniversary of the deadliest earthquake in Mexico’s modern history, which killed 5,000 people in 1985. And it struck less than two weeks after a

magnitude-8.1 quake hit the country and killed nearly 100.

PHOTOS:

Desperate Rescuers Dig Through Rubble After Powerful Mexico Quake

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Wednesday that President Donald Trump spoke with Peña Nieto and “expressed deep concerns” about the situation and “indicated his immediate deployment of assistance to Mexico city of search and rescue expertise team, very large team of people trained for these specific types of circumstances.”

Rescues were underway throughout affected areas, with thousands of courageous volunteers climbing inside the ruins of collapsed buildings to save survivors who had been buried alive. Outside what had been a four-story building at the corner of San Luis Potosi and Medellin Streets, one volunteer waited for the signal to enter the debris pile.

“Yes, I’m willing to get inside right now,” he told NBC News. “If there is somebody alive right now, we’re going to get in.”

Asked why he was putting his life at risk to help strangers, the man replied:

“Because I’m Mexican. Somebody is alive in there. Somebody has to do it.”