Mexico earthquake: Rescuers race to find survivors trapped in collapsed school as death toll mounts

Rescuers are desperately searching to find survivors in the rubble of a school toppled by a huge earthquake in Mexico as the death toll mounts in the wake of the disaster.

At least 21 children and five adults died when the school in the south of Mexico’s capital toppled on Tuesday.

A 13-year-old girl was among 11 people pulled alive from the debris after volunteers heard her screams.

Foro TV reported that rescuers spotted the child and shouted to her to move her hand if she could hear them, which she did.

A search dog found her alive as volunteers used sledge hammers and ropes to break through huge chunks of Enrique Rebsamen School.

One heroic volunteer Carlos Lincona said he wanted to help in any way he could.

He said: “It would appear they are continuing to find children."

Powerful microphones were lowered into the wreckage in a bid to locate two children and an adult still missing amid the devastation.

A volunteer rescue worker, Dr Pedro Serrano, told how he crawled into the crevices of the tottering pile of rubble to a classroom, where he found no survivors.

"We saw some chairs and wooden tables. The next thing we saw was a leg, and then we started to move rubble and we found a girl and two adults - a woman and a man," he said.

“All were dead. We can hear small noises, but we don't know if they're coming from ... the walls above, or someone below calling for help.”

Onlookers described the haunting moment two small bodies were pulled from the school and covered in sheets.

The death toll across Mexico continued to soar on Thursday morning with at least 230 confirmed dead by head of the area’s civil defence agency Luis Felipe Puente.

100 of the dead were in Mexico City, he said, 69 in Morelos state just south of the capital and 43 in Puebla state to the south-east, where the quake hit.

Dozens of streets in the town of Jojutla, in Morelos state, were completely flattened – with the rescue mission centring on a ruined church where 12 people died inside.

Across Mexico 52 had been pulled alive from buildings destroyed by the powerful tremors.

Valerie Perez, a 23-year-old student from Venezuela, described the tremor as “the post powerful thing I’ve ever seen” as she watched a tower block crumble.

Carlos Mendoza was standing just blocks away when the building collapsed in the capital’s trendy Roma neighbourhood.

The 30-year-old joined the rescue efforts and said he has been able to pull two people alive from the rubble.

He said: "When we saw this we came to help. This is ugly, very ugly.”

Alma Gonzalez became trapped in her fourth floor apartment when the quake collapsed the ground floor.

Heroic neighbours used a ladder to rescue her from a tiny side window.

President Enrique Pena Nieto declared three days of national mourning even as authorities made rescuing the trapped and treating the wounded their priority.

"Every minute counts to save lives," he tweeted.

Two million people were left without electricity following the quake while officials issued a stark warning to residents not to smoke on the street amid fears gas mains had ruptured.

The latest tremor comes just weeks after an 8.1 magnitude quake shook the region killing 90 people.

The epicentre of the latest quake was near Atencingo in Puebla state, about 120km (75 miles) from Mexico City, according to the US Geological Survey.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was saddened by the loss of life and damage caused by the earthquake.

He offered his condolences to the government and people of Mexico and said in a statement that the United Nations stands ready to assist Mexico.

The Philippines says the powerful earthquake has badly damaged its embassy in Mexico City, but added that staff were unhurt and there are so far no reports of casualties among the 60 members of the Filipino community.

Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella says: "Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Mexico, especially the bereaved families, who were hit and affected by a magnitude 7.1 earthquake."