Six Pulled Out Alive From Ruins of Department Store : Spent Night in Debris; 11 Are Dead

Rescue workers clawed a tunnel with their bare hands today to free six people from the wreckage of a department store that collapsed during a thunderstorm, killing 11 people and injuring 47.

Navy sound experts were called to listen for any signs of life within the twisted slabs of steel and brick, all that remained of the three-story Amigo Store which collapsed in the downpour Thursday, apparently under the weight of accumulated water on its roof.

There was no immediate indication from the team of any sounds of life.

Two women, a 2-year-old girl, a boy and girl both aged 8, and a 14-year-old girl were rescued during the morning.

The toddler “appeared to have been protected by some other people around her who are believed dead,” Police Lt. Victor Rodriguez said.

Another rescued child, 8-year-old Jorge Mena Lire, was pulled from the rubble and taken on a stretcher to be examined by waiting doctors.

“The little boy kept crying that he wanted to come out. . . . He wanted a little ball and he wanted some refreshments,” fireman William Briggs said. “He was also a little scared, which is natural, and he’s also afraid of dying.”

Digging Delicate Work

Rescue workers erected a makeshift tarp to protect against the sweltering South Texas heat--temperatures soared into the 90s--and formed a line to get rid of debris, tossing shards of concrete and metal into the upraised shovels of front-end loaders. Most of the digging was delicate work, done by hand.

“They’re trying to be careful not to do any damage, to save the people underneath,” said Capt. Ramiro Torres.

A moment of high drama came early today when a worker pulled out a sign scribbled in felt-tipped pen from somebody still below. The sign read “Cristo el camino, “ Spanish for “Christ the road.”

The nightmare began when an intense thunderstorm washed through Brownsville shortly after 2 p.m. Thursday and hammered the area with more than 2 inches of rain in 30 minutes.

Shoppers clustered beneath the store’s heavy sidewalk canopy to avoid the rains. They were the first killed.

A Woolworth store beside the Amigo and located near the international bridge was unscathed.

The rescued 2-year-old was not immediately identified.

‘In Tremendous Pain’

“She is Spanish-speaking and she says she’s from Matamoros,” across the Rio Grande from the border city, said Pamela Downing, a spokeswoman for the Public Utilities Board.

Spectators applauded when Maria Eugenia Lire, 37, of Merida, Mexico, was pulled out at dawn. Hours later, with the sun high and hot, a rescuer pulled out the toddler, then Lire’s son, Jorge Mena Lire, 8; then Yvette Lire, 14, Lire’s niece; Rosalinda Silva, 46, of Monterrey, and Denise Carrera, 8.

The survivors were wrapped in blankets and carried away in gurneys for medical attention.

“It’s very heartbreaking to hear these people,” said Johnny Economedes, one of the many rescuers who listened to prayers and cries from inside the wreckage until they could free the survivors. “They’re in tremendous pain. You don’t want to hear it.”

“I understand they were able to barely reach them through the openings,” said Brownsville Police Sgt. William Kingsbury.

As bodies were removed from the wreckage they were taken to a morgue for identification.

Many of the victims were believed to be from Mexico. The popular shopping area is just a few blocks from the Rio Grande.