Israeli Visitor Recounts Trauma of Mexico Earthquake: ‘We Felt Everything Shaking, There Was a Bit of Panic and Hysteria’
by Algemeiner Staff
An Israeli man visiting Mexico recounted for the Hebrew news site nrg on Friday the traumatic experience he went through the previous night when the country was rocked by an 8.1-magnitude earthquake epicentered in the Pacific Ocean.
21-year-old Chico Hadad — who was staying at the Chabad House in San Cristóbal de las Casas in the southern state of Chiapas — told nrg, “Suddenly, we felt everything shaking…We realized this was a strong earthquake and we acted in accordance with instructions, immediately running outside the building to an open space.”
“There was a bit of panic and hysteria,” he added.
The Israeli NGO iAID was preparing on Friday to — if called upon — send a 12-member search-and-rescue team to Mexico to help find survivors trapped under rubble.
According to media reports, at least 32 people were killed by the tremor — the strongest to hit Mexico in a century — and some areas in the southern part of the country suffered heavy damage.
As of yet, no Israelis or Jews have been reported to be among the casualties.
Watch a video (via nrg) of the scene outside the Chabad House in San Cristóbal de las Casas following Thursday night’s earthquake below: