Death toll rises to 48 after devastation by Hurricane Otis in Mexico

Mexican authorities reported this Sunday that the fatalities caused by the devastating passage of Hurricane Otis through the Mexican Pacific increased to 48., 43 in Acapulco de Juárez and five in Coyuca de Benítez. A few hours before, the governor of Guerrero had informed President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of 43 deaths.

However, The discovery of five bodies in Coyuca de Benítez, a neighbor of Acapulco, forced the figures to be modified. In addition, there are 36 people missing or not located. “It is a preliminary figure and we are reinforcing the search program. Yesterday we located several people alive,” said Evelyn Salgado, governor of Guerrero, by telephone.

Acapulco is living hell after Hurricane Otis

Mexico’s once tourist engine is barely distinguishable from a war camp after the hurricane that claimed the lives of dozens of people and left billions of dollars in material damage.#DWNoticias /jam pic.twitter.com/1NHC0gzbqE

— DW Español (@dw_espanol) October 29, 2023

The reporting of victims has been slow since four days after Otis hit, the authorities have not reached all the regions affected by the hurricane, after practically the entire South Coast of Guerrero was left incommunicado for about 24 hours. However, López Obrador assured that all the heads of the State Secretariats are in the disaster area and are working in coordination with state and municipal authorities.

Looting

This delay may be due to the fact that the hurricane collapsed telecommunications and electricity service, which have been gradually restored over the weekend. The same López Obrador announced that he will visit Acapulco to see on the ground the degree of destruction unleashed by Otis, which arrived early Wednesday morning as a category 5, the maximum on the Saffir-Simpson scale, and left a wave of destruction in this city of almost 780,000 inhabitants who live from the tourism sector.

After Otis passed, shops and supermarkets were looted by residents, desperate for food and water, although thefts of different items were also recorded.. Aid from the government and private organizations began to be distributed on Friday afternoon, after the Acapulco airport was opened and traffic on the roads was gradually speeded up.

In a telephone connection with our president @lopezobrador_, we gave the updated report on the work coordinated by the three levels of government in response to the effects of Hurricane #Otis.

We continue working 24 hours a day, reaching the most affected areas to put… https://t.co/WfMn1O0RAX

— Evelyn Salgado Pineda (@EvelynSalgadoP) October 29, 2023

Keep reading:

• AMLO hopes to achieve the “feat of putting Acapulco on its feet” after reporting that the death toll from Hurricane Otis rose to 43.
• Hurricane Otis: this is how the Acapulco hotels were left inside
• Hurricane Otis leaves destruction and the population incommunicado in Guerrero, Mexico, after impacting as a category 5