Local media said 49 people were taken to hospital after the roof of Ciudad Madero’s Santa Cruz church fell in. Police in the coastal state of Tamaulipas said around 100 people were at a mass at the time of the collapse. Local media reported it was a baptism. A number of children are believed to be among those trapped, and rescue efforts are ongoing.
Images on social media showed the church building in ruins as people crowded around the rubble, desperately searching for those who were trapped inside. People were said to be arriving with shovels and pickaxes to try to move the debris. Later posts showed the emergency services were at the scene, following the collapse on Sunday afternoon.
Calls were made on social media for medical and rescue materials to help those searching for survivors. Authorities were said to be requesting silence from those gathered at the scene so that they could hear if anyone trapped inside was calling for help.
The bishop of the diocese of Tampico, José Armando Álvarez Cano, sent a message to the community on social media saying that work was underway “to find those under the rubble”. He said it was a “difficult time” and ended his video address by saying: “May the Lord help you.”
