Officials Fear Cholera Will Spread in Acapulco

Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo on Tuesday tried to quell rising anger amid a water shortage, fears of epidemics and mounting charges of corruption in the aftermath of Hurricane Pauline.

Most residents had no drinking water, and many were mobbing water trucks that ventured into areas hardest hit by last week’s storm, which killed more than 200 people.

Four cases of cholera have been reported. Officials said they expected the disease to spread quickly among the giant pools of mud, garbage and stagnant water.

Many people complained that water being delivered to aid centers was not reaching those who needed it most.

“The water is still going to local officials who are taking everything for themselves,” said Esteban Chino Guerrero, who said he had received about 1 quart of clean water in three days. He and others in the Progress neighborhood were adding drops of household bleach to muddy water and drinking it. “We have to survive,” he said.

Others raided food from bins of rotting eggs and spoiled meat at the city’s central market.

In the city center, the smell of rotting human remains under the mud mixed with the stench of garbage. Most residents wore surgical masks handed out by health workers.