Victor EzejaA Church building roof has collapsed in northern Mexico, causing the death of 10 people, including three children, and burying dozens of others in the debris.
The collapse occurred on Sunday afternoon local time as around 100 people were attending a baptism ceremony at Santa Cruz church in Ciudad Madero, in Tamaulipas state, Mexico.
The priest who was celebrating the baptisms when the collapse occurred, Ángel Vargas, said that a day of celebration had turned into a tragedy.
“They came to search for heaven for the little ones and found eternity. I want the families to find peace. All of this is unfathomable,” he said.
Sixty people were injured, at least two of them seriously. Local residents rushed to the scene with shovels and pickaxes to try to free those trapped in the rubble.
The bishop of the local diocese, Jose Armando Alvarez, said in a video posted on social media that “the roof of a church has collapsed during the celebration of the Eucharist”.
Several ambulances, patrol cars, and police and military personnel were at the site, in addition to numerous people in search of family members who were in the church. Two cranes have also been mobilized to the site to remove the debris.
The Archdiocese of Mexico has already put out a message on social media offering condolences.
“We join in prayer with our sister diocese Tampico to intercede for our killed and injured brothers,” it said.
On his part, the governor of Tamaulipas has said that all of those missing have been accounted for. Rescue workers used thermal imaging cameras to ensure no one remained under the rubble.
It is not yet clear what may have caused the collapse but the mayor of Ciudad Madero said it was probably due to “structural failures”.
Local media showed footage of dozens of people trying to hold up part of the collapsed structure with poles while others made their way through the wreckage in search of survivors.
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