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Soldiers rescue health workers trapped on the roof of the flooded hospital in Tula in Hidalgo state, Mexico.
Soldiers rescue health workers trapped on the roof of the flooded hospital in Tula in Hidalgo state, Mexico. Photograph: Marco Ugarte/AP
Soldiers rescue health workers trapped on the roof of the flooded hospital in Tula in Hidalgo state, Mexico. Photograph: Marco Ugarte/AP

Seventeen patients die after hospital in Mexico floods amid torrential rain

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The victims, mostly suffering from Covid, died when the flood knocked out electricty to the hospital in Hidalgo state

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Seventeen patients, most of them suffering from Covid-19, have died after a hospital in central Mexico flooded when torrential rain caused a river to burst its banks.

More than 40 other patients in the public hospital in the town of Tula in Hidalgo state were evacuated by emergency service workers on Tuesday, and an initial assessment showed about 2,000 houses had flood damage, the Mexican government said in a statement.

Hidalgo’s governor, Omar Fayad, told local media that 15 or 16 out of the 17 fatalities were Covid-19 patients.

The media said the deaths occurred when flooding caused by days of rain caused the Tula river to overflow and knock out electricity at the hospital.

Continuamos las labores de rescate en Tula. Estaremos brindando información en coordinación con el @GobiernoMX, y realizando todo lo necesario para apoyar a las familias afectadas. pic.twitter.com/lvWdYnm4fs

— Omar Fayad (@omarfayad) September 7, 2021

In pictures shared by Fayad on social media, desperate nurses were pushing beds out of the hospital to try to bring patients to safety. Some nurses were up to their knees in water.

Después de sobrevolar la zona de Tula voy en camino al @Tu_IMSS de este municipio para apoyar las acciones de esta emergencia. Estamos trabajando con el @GobiernoMX para hacerle frente a esta situación y apoyar a las familias. pic.twitter.com/yXjAg377Yo

— Omar Fayad (@omarfayad) September 7, 2021

Video footage also showed how patients, some of them intubated, were moved out into speedboats.

President Andrés Manuel López Obradorr on Twitter urged residents at risk to seek out shelters, areas of higher ground or to go to friends or relatives. “A lot of rain has fallen in the Valley of Mexico and it will keep raining,” he said.

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