 |
|
|
 News Around the Republic of Mexico | September 2005 
Official Gov't Toll: Four Dead, 90 Still Missing
 Wire services
| | National Guard troops patrol outside a house fire in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans September 8, 2005. National Guard troops and rescue teams hunted for thousands of people unable or unwilling to leave ruined New Orleans on Thursday, with one group making the grim discovery of 30 bodies in a suburban nursing home. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters) |
Mexican officials said they have identified four countrymen among the dead in New Orleans and are trying to help residents find some 90 others who are unaccounted for.
"The Mexican government already spoke with the relatives and we are in the process to repatriate them in Mexico," Victor Manuel Treviño Escudero, the Mexican consul in Brownsville, said of the dead.
Two of the victims were from the state of Chiapas, one from Jalisco and one from Michoacan. The list of missing was compiled from telephone calls from relatives throughout Mexico.
"Maybe they are not in official shelters. Maybe they moved before Katrina came. Maybe they are with friends. But at this moment we don't know," he said.
He said the Mexican government was operating toll-free telephone lines to help reunite people.
Several consular officials from the border state of Tamaulipas, across the Rio Grande from Brownsville, had been dispatched to New Orleans with Mexican calling cards for people with relatives in Mexico, he said.
Some Mexicans were given help returning to Mexico.
"We have some cases of people who lost everything and say 'Well, it's not necessary to stay in the United States, we have to come back to Mexico.' We provide money for transportation, we provide airplane tickets," he said.
The consular officials had gone with aid that is not just for Mexicans, he stressed.
"We are very sensitive, especially in the state of Tamaulipas, to help," he said. "As you know, we had (Hurricane) Emily just two months ago and we received a lot of help."
Toll free numbers for Mexican nationals unaccounted for: 1-800703-6400 from Mexico, 1-866600-2570 in the United States. |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us