At least nine people died and forty others were injured yesterday Sunday in Mexico when the roof of a church collapsed during a mass baptism in Ciudad Madero, a city in the state of Tamaulipas (northeast), according to the latest report from the local government.

A state government security spokesman said via X (formerly Twitter) of “nine dead and 40 injured”, stressing that the toll could rise overnight.

Earlier, he spoke of seven dead. The newspaper Milenio reported in its online edition that the dead are at least ten.

A member of the Red Cross stated that the work of the rescue crews has practically been completed, but added that specialized teams are expected to do the “final” search of the wreckage, according to the same source.

About 80 people were inside the church where a baptism was taking place when the roof of the industrial-style building collapsed, he said.

According to Mexican media, twenty to thirty people were still trapped in the wreckage of the Santa Cruz parish church.

The collapse occurred at 2:18 p.m. (local time; 11:18 p.m. Greek time), when, possibly due to a construction failure, the roof collapsed, a statement from the authorities clarified.

“We are living in a very difficult time (…) the roof of the church collapsed during the celebration of Thanksgiving,” said Jose Armando Alvarez, the bishop of Tampico, whose flock the church is under, in a video he uploaded to social networking sites .

At the moment, “the necessary work is underway to remove the people who are still under the debris,” added the priest, without specifying how many.

Mobilization

The governor of the state of Tamaulipas, Américo Villarreal, referred to a “tragedy” via X, stressing that rescue and first aid services were immediately mobilized.

“Security and civil protection services are already handling the situation (…) They are on the ground to coordinate rescue operations,” he wrote.

Images captured by the television service of the newspaper Milenio showed dozens of people trying to prop up part of the collapsed building using beams, while others made their way through the rubble with their bare hands to find survivors.

Members of rescue teams – just like in search and rescue operations after the 2017 earthquake that shook central Mexico – raised their fists, asking bystanders to be quiet so they could hear if there were any survivors. in the wreckage.

Specially trained dogs set out, while construction machinery also arrived.

Earlier messages were posted on social networking sites appealing for tools to remove debris.

According to the online edition of the newspaper Reforma, which cited Adrian Oseguera, the mayor of Madero, among the victims is at least one child.

Ciudad Madero, south of Tamaulipas on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, has just over 200,000 residents. The state of Tamaulipas neighbors Texas.