The death toll from a powerful earthquake that rocked Mexico on Tuesday has surged to 248 people, the head of the national disaster response agency, Luis Felipe Puente, said on Twitter. The dead included at least 21 children crushed beneath a primary school that collapsed on Mexico City’s south side during the 7.1-magnitude quake, authorities said. President Enrique Pena Nieto, who rushed to the site, warned that the death toll could rise. Tuesday’s quake struck just two hours after Mexico held a national earthquake drill, as it does every September 19 to remember the 1985 event. Adding to the national sense of vulnerability, the earthquake struck just 12 days after another quake that killed nearly 100 people in southern Mexico.

Source: Dhaka Tribune September 20, 2017 14:48 UTC