WORLD
Mexican hurricanes claim 115 lives as rescuers continue to search for 68 feared dead in huge mudslide
Baku, September 24 (AZERTAC). Two hurricanes which hit Mexico have so far claimed the lives of 115 people as rescuers continue to search for 68 feared dead following a huge mudslide.
The Mexican army's emergency response and rescue team is leading the search for victims of the massive landslide which has wiped out half of the remote coffee-growing village of La Pintada.
Five bodies were discovered on Sunday including a man found wedged under the collapsed roof of a dirt-filled home.
Lieutenant Carlos Alberto Mendoza, commander of the 16-soldier team, said it is the most daunting situation he has seen in 24 years with the army.
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The twin storms, Manuel and Ingrid, simultaneously pounded both of Mexico's coasts a week ago, leading to huge floods and landslides across a third of the country.
The official death toll has grown to 115, the Interior Ministry said Sunday night.
President Enrique Pena Nieto toured the devastated village following the landslide which covered at least 40 homes.
He said: 'As of today, there is little hope now that we will find anyone alive.'
Survivors staying at a shelter in Acapulco recounted how a tidal wave of dirt, rocks and trees exploded through the center of town, burying families in their homes and sweeping wooden houses into the bed of the swollen river that winds past the village on its way to the Pacific.
The scene by Sunday was desolate, a ghost town where 50 people still awaited evacuation.
One man remained to care for abandoned goats, pigs and chickens that seemed disoriented as they roamed about.
Ricardo de La Cruz, national director of Civil Protection, said 'The fundamental problem continues to be the rain.
'It complicates the rescue work not only by putting residents at risk, but the military and support crews as well.'
as officials responded to a wave of criticism that negligence and corruption were to blame for the vast devastation caused by two relatively weak storm systems.
He said: 'I will come to inaugurate a new La Pintada.
'That's a promise I'm making today to this community, which has undergone such a misfortune.'
The government has been critisied however, being blamed for making natural disasters worse because of poor planning, lack of a prevention strategy and corruption.
A spokesman for Mexico's nonprofit Center of Investigation for Development wrote in an online editorial criticising a federal program to improve infrastructure and relocate communities out of dangerous flood zones.
Soldiers search through mud and rubble for victims of a landslide in the town of La Pintada
Villagers on a small boat pass next to a home that was washed away by tropical storm Manuel near Atoyac de Alvarez, Mexico
'Governments aren't responsible for the occurrence of severe weather, but they are for the prevention of the effects.