60 Rescued from Mexico Quake Rubble, but Mystery Girl Didn't Exist

Rescue crews in Mexico City have saved 60 people trapped in the rubble from Tuesday's magnitude 7.1 earthquake, but time is running short. Soon, bulldozers will replace the rescuers.  

On Thursday, crews lifted several more people out of the debris of two buildings.  

The official death toll has risen to 295 with at least 137 in the capital of Mexico City.  

Witnesses say the tragedy could have actually been much worse. They report that some buildings didn't fall immediately after the quake which gave people time to escape. Other buildings shattered but left airspaces where survivors could breathe.

In other cases, the salvation seemed miraculous.

Security guard Felix Giral Barron said that after the quake started, he had time to run and tell people to evacuate his building. Then an entire apartment building across the street crumbled and a big tank of heating gas on its slid off, but didn't explode.

"The 550-pound gas tank got caught by the trees on the street, and that prevented it from exploding," he said.

Many in Mexico and around the world had followed rescuers at a school site trying to save someone they believed to be a young girl named Frida Sofia.  

However, Navy Assistant Secretary Enrique Sarmiento said late Thursday that while there were blood traces indicating a possible life, that the school had accounted for all its students. Sarmiento said rescuers helped 11 children escape and that 19 had died along with six adults.

"We have no knowledge about the report that emerged with the name of a girl. We do not believe – we are sure – it was not a reality," said Sarmiento.

Still, rescuers are working at the school site, believing that someone may still be trapped underneath the debris.

Operation Blessing is working in four different locations in the Puebla region of Mexico. It's coordinating all relief efforts for more than 1,200 residents in the town of Atzizihuacan.   

The ministry is installing new pipes and parts to fix the town's water supply as well as providing 1,000 meals a day and shelter to residents. Officials have forbidden many of them from going near their damaged homes.  

Operation Blessing continues to work helping victims in Oaxaca who suffered in an earlier earthquake on Sept. 7.

CBN Disaster Relief is also working in Mexico to help the quake victims.

You can donate to CBN's efforts help the hurting by clicking HERE.