Mexico City, May 25 (IANS/EFE) At least 11 people were killed on Monday by a tornado in Ciudad Acuna, a city in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila, officials said.
“Unfortunately, 11 people lost their lives” in the tornado, Ciudad Acuna Mayor Lenin Perez said in a Twitter post.
The tornado caused extensive damage in the border city, the mayor said.
The tornado ripped through Ciudad Acuna at 6:10 a.m., an emergency management office spokesman said.
Emergency services personnel and army troops are working to clear the rubble and find survivors, the official said.
Coahuila Governor Ruben Moreira has implemented the emergency plan and is heading to Ampliacion Santa Teresa, the area hit hardest by the tornado.
About 1,500 houses were destroyed by the tornado, which lasted just six seconds and lifted occupied vehicles off the ground, the mayor told the local media.
Photos posted on social networks show dozens of damaged vehicles, including some tossed on the roofs of buildings, and houses that collapsed.
“Temporary shelters have been set up for those whose houses are severely damaged,” President Enrique Pena Nieto said in a Twitter post.
The Emergency Management Office is working with Coahuila’s government to help families affected by the tornado, the president said.
–IANS/EFE
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