Mexico’s Security Secretary, Rosa Icela Rodríguez, delivered this update in a video message shared on the X platform alongside President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
In Mexico, the death toll resulting from Category 5 Hurricane Otis, which made landfall on the nation’s southern Pacific coast last Wednesday, has been raised to 39 by Mexico’s security authorities
The probable cause of death for the 39 victims is believed to be “suffocation by submersion,” although investigations are still ongoing, and the victims have not been identified. 1 The decision to raise the death toll comes after it had remained at 27 since the initial announcement on Thursday, with local media reporting the discovery of additional bodies. President López Obrador criticized his political opponents for attempting to politicize the Category 5 hurricane’s death toll.
Rodríguez also revealed that the number of people missing has increased to 10, leaving hundreds of families anxiously awaiting information about their loved ones. In the city of Acapulco, relief efforts started to gain momentum, with government workers and volunteers clearing streets, long lines forming at gas stations, and some fortunate families finding essential food supplies.
The aid response, however, has been slow due to the rapid and unexpected intensity of the Category 5 hurricane, which initially isolated the city of nearly 1 million people
Government officials have encountered the difficult mission of finding both the deceased and the missing individuals, causing many to doubt the initial death toll figures provided by the authorities. While individuals like Orlando Mendoza made efforts to transport much-needed provisions to their families, challenges persisted due to shortages of gasoline and power outages. The majority of families were in desperate need of water, and the municipal water system remained inactive due to the power cuts. President López Obrador stated that electricity had been restored to 55% of affected customers, but more than 200,000 residences and businesses were still without power. The federal civil defense agency disclosed that 220,000 households had suffered damage from the Category 5 hurricane.
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