Pope Francis on Wednesday offered prayers for the victims of the powerful earthquake in central Mexico which killed over 200 people and said he was close to the country's entire population.
"Here among you, there are many Mexicans; the earthquake has caused casualties and material damage and in this moment of pain I express my closeness to the whole Mexican population," Francis told pilgrims at his weekly general audience in St Peter's Square.
“I ask Almighty God to welcome all those who lost their lives", the pontiff went on, according to Vatican Radio.
Francis also praised the rescue workers involved in helping those affected by the 7.1 magnitude tremor which struck on Tuesday, killing at least 217 people - half of them in Mexico City - among them at over 20 schoolchildren.
Rescuers were still clawing frantically through rubble on Wednesday for dozens of children feared buried under a Mexico City school, one of hundreds of buildings destroyed by one of the country's worst tremors in decades.
The quake came 32 years to the day after a devastating quake killed up to 10,000 people and left 30,000 homeless in Mexico City and less than two weeks after a powerful tremor killed nearly 100 people in the south of the country.
