Search and rescue work continues across Mexico City in wake of massive earthquake

Sarairis Aguilar/AFP/Getty Images(MEXICO CITY) — Search and rescue crews continued the grim task of digging out from Tuesday’s massive earthquake in Mexico City as they clung to hope of finding survivors in the rubble two days later.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said late Wednesday night the priority in the country’s capital was still on saving lives. Search and rescue crews are working across the city, with more than 50 people rescued from collapsed buildings, according to the president.

The death toll in the 7.1-magnitude earthquake was at least 245 people early Wednesday. Of those, 115 people died in Mexico City, according to Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera.

More than 1,900 people have received medical attention, Pena Nieto said.

Mexico has accepted technical and specialized assistance from many countries, including the United States, Spain, Israel, Japan and several Latin American countries.

“We are all one when it comes to saving a life or helping a victim,” Pena Nieto said.

Much of the attention of rescuers in the city was focused on the Enrique Rebsamen school, an elementary and secondary school which collapsed during the quake. The bodies of 21 children and four adults were found in the wreckage of the school, where an ongoing rescue effort was underway overnight after a young girl was found alive — trapped in the rubble — Wednesday afternoon.

Rescuers were communicating with the girl and had dropped water bottles and oxygen to her as they worked to free her. The country’s minister of education told ABC News that officials believe two other children are located nearby the girl, but they have not heard any definitive signs of life from them.

Pena Nieto said 95 percent of electricity had been restored to the nearly 5 million customers who lost power due to the quake.

The president outlined a three-part plan Wednesday night for recovering from the quake. 1.) assisting those affected, 2.) an exhaustive assessment of the damage, and 3.) reconstruction starting with the removal of rubble and demolition of buildings.