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World|life|January 30, 2015 / 01:08 PM
Mexico City hospital blast prompts frantic search for babies

AKIPRESS.COM - Rescuers rushed from the rubble with babies in their arms after a gas explosion leveled part of a maternity hospital in Mexico City on Thursday, killing at least three people and injuring dozens more.

More than 100 people were inside Cuajimalpa Maternal Hospital when the blast occurred at about 7 a.m., minutes after a hose burst on a truck supplying gas to the building. Paramedics carried bloodied victims on stretchers.

Ivonne Lugo Durantes told CNNMexico she spent 10 minutes trapped under rubble before rescuers reached her.

The supervising nurse called her husband, Mario Angeles Sanchez, after the blast. As she described what was happening, he heard people in the background screaming for help.

"I am still a little bit in shock. It was a nightmare," she said, describing how hospital workers tried to rescue babies from a nursery as flames engulfed the building.

A nurse and two babies were killed by the blast, Mexico City Health Secretary Armando Ahued told CNN affiliate FOROtv. At least 73 people were injured, he said, including about 20 newborns.

Officials initially reported a higher death toll, but later said a mix-up between the number of those deceased and those seriously injured led to an incorrect report.

Outside the hospital, frantic family members searched for word of loved ones they feared were inside.

Searching continued Thursday evening at the site, though officials said it appeared everyone had been accounted for.

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