Tropical storms leave 139 people dead, 53 more missing in Mexico

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Tropical storms leave 139 people dead, 53 more missing in Mexico

(Xinhua) 08:53, September 26, 2013

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MEXICO CITY, Sept. 25. -- The death toll from the twin storms, known as Ingrid and Manuel, that ravaged Mexico last week has risen to 139, while 53 others remained missing after their village was buried in a landslide, authorities said Wednesday.

Thirty-five more people were injured in the landslide and floods that battered several states nationwide caused by the two storms, Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said.

Chong said that 312 cities of 14 states have declared state of emergency and another 250 municipalities have declared state of disaster. More than 58,000 people in the country were evacuated.

The hardest-hit region was La Pintada, a mountainous village in the southwestern Guerrero state, which was swamped by a massive mudslide last week, leaving dozens of people dead. Rescue workers were still seeking the villagers missing, though most of them were presumed dead.

The two storms, which hit Mexico's Pacific and Atlantic coasts respectively within 24 hours Monday last week, have affected 1.5 million families and forced about 350,000 people to leave their homes, according to official sources.

Relief efforts are in full swing, with about 633 million pesos (some 48 million U.S dollars) being allocated as relief fund to help the country recover from this devastating disaster, said Finance Minister Luis Videgaray, who placed the total losses caused by the two storms at about 1 billion U.S dollars.

Mexican President Pena Nieto said Sunday they are considering revising the country's 2014 budget to cope with the damage caused by the heaviest storms in decades.

（Editor：LiangJun、Zhang Qian）