The national coordinator of Civil Protection, Laura Velázquez Alzúa, said that she did warn about the risk of the overflow of the Tula River, in Hidalgo, but that, in the case of the IMSS hospital, it was left incommunicado.
At a press conference, he said that his work of “alerting is very punctual.”
“Yes there was an evacuation in Tula, unfortunately what happened in this hospital is that he was incommunicado, there was no way to assist them because they could not tell us what was happening … The rain was very sudden, the flooding too, in 10, 15 minutes the hospital was flooded, it was a lot of rain,” he said.
When asked about the floods in Tula, the head of Civil Protection, @laualzua, said that the “alert work is very punctual” and that the IMSS hospital could not communicate what was happening. pic.twitter.com/qk6QdBxJbr
— Animal Político (@Pajaropolitico) September 9, 2021
Velázquez Alzúa said that, if he had not evacuated the center of Tula, in the early hours of Monday to dawn Tuesday, the affectation would have been greater.
Tula, at risk of further flooding due to rains and overflowing dams; authorities evacuate 7 municipalities
On Monday, the governor of Hidalgo, Omar Fayad, reported that 17 people died in the hospital of the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS), in Tula de Allende, after the Tula River overflowed and flooded the hospital, which caused the breathing supports for patients hospitalized for COVID to stop working.
However, the director of the IMSS, Zoé Robledo, said that 14 people died during the flood, 12 men and 2 women, all with a diagnosis of COVID; He added that two patients had lost their lives prior to the incident.
He added that authorities of the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) were not warned about the potential danger due to the rains that caused the overflow of the Tula River and the flooding of the General Hospital of the place, so it could not be evacuated in time.
“The torrential rains in Hidalgo, State of Mexico and Mexico City generated an increase in the flow of the Tula River that led to the overflow at a nearby point of the hospital, unfortunately neither the management staff of the hospital, nor the head of medical benefits nor the IMSS delegation in Hidalgo were warned either officially or informally of the phenomenon or its potential,” Robledo said in a video.
Meanwhile, the governor of Hidalgo, Omar Fayad, said that the responsibility for warning about the severity of the rains and the magnitude of the affectations is the Responsibility of the National Water Commission (Conagua).
It is a sad day for @Tu_IMSS for the irreparable loss of life of our beneficiaries. My solidarity for all families.
The priority is the evolution of the survivors, the accompaniment of the relatives and the recognition of our staff for their dedication. pic.twitter.com/ViG237bZco
— Zoé Robledo (@zoerobledo) September 8, 2021
What we do at Animal Político requires professional journalists, teamwork, dialogue with readers and something very important: independence. You can help us keep going. Be part of the team.
Subscribe to Animal Político, receive benefits and support free journalism.#YoSoyAnimal
