Torrential rains in central Mexico have suddenly flooded a hospital and killed 16 patients
TULA, Mexico – Torrential rains in central Mexico suddenly flooded a hospital in the early hours of Tuesday and killed 16 patients, possibly due to the loss of oxygen equipment when the power supply was turned off, the company said. ‘National Institute of Social Security.
A video posted on the agency’s social media channel said about 40 more patients survived when the waters rose rapidly in downtown Tula, about 100 kilometers north of Mexico City, and flooded the hospital. public around 6 p.m.
The video recorded inside the hospital showed knee-deep water as staff frantically tried to move patients.
Later Tuesday, emergency personnel evacuated the hospital and loaded patients into ambulances to be taken to other health centers.
IMSS director Zoé Robledo said the waters ravaged the area’s electricity and hospital generators.
He said the hospital had treated 56 patients, about half of whom were suffering from COVID-19.
Rescue teams of firefighters and soldiers led boats through the streets of Tula rescuing people from flooded houses.
The city’s central market was completely flooded. In a place by the river, lots of semi-trailers, buses, tank trucks and cars were lodged against each other semi-submerged at strange angles in running water.
Residents carried boxes and bags of recovered items to higher ground.
The mayor of Tula, Manuel Hernández Badillo, said at a press conference: “Today the important thing is to save lives.”