Authorities reopen road to evacuate Acapulco tourists

Mexican authorities re-opened Friday the highway linking Acapulco to Mexico City, giving thousands of tourists trapped in the flooded Pacific resort for almost a week a new way out following deadly storms. The good news for increasingly angry tourists contrasted with the grim search for scores of people missing in nearby mountains after a massive mudslide swallowed half of their village. Authorities were also searching for a police helicopter that disappeared while conducting relief missions in the same mountain region of southwestern Guerrero state. Mexico is reeling from the one-two punch of tropical storms Ingrid and Manuel, which have left a trail of destruction that damaged tens of thousands of homes, flooded towns and killed around 100 people. After devastating Guerrero, where at least 65 people died, Manuel re-emerged as a hurricane and slammed the northwestern state of Sinaloa on Friday, affecting 100,000 people and killing three before dissipating. The transportation ministry said on Twitter that "traffic resumes" on the "Sun Highway" linking Acapulco to the capital. It had been closed since Sunday, when it was littered by landslides. More than 15,000 Mexican and foreign beachgoers were evacuated in emergency airlifts after the civilian airport was flooded, but around 25,000 were still looking for an exit from the devastated city. Some 5,000 frustrated tourists sheltered at the convention center blocked an avenue for half an hour late Thursday in protest against the slow pace of the airlift. Waiting to board a bus, Alejandro Tubias, a Mexico City resident, said it was high time to leave after his wife contracted a stomach bug that they blamed on the lack of drinking water. "We are more than happy. We are in a hurry to go because my wife is sick and because we don't have any money to pay the hotel room," he said. Tempers have flared at an air force base where massive lines of tourists have formed, with those being evacuated on military aircraft angry to see wealthier travelers quickly hopping on private jets. Commercial airlines Aeromexico and Interjet flew several planes to the civilian airport despite the lack of a functioning radar after the terminal was knee-high deep in water. While tourists finally found a new way out of Acapulco, hundreds of troops and civil protection workers dug through the night with shovels in La Pintada, a village west of Acapulco that was swamped by a massive mudslide. Authorities say 68 people have been reported missing and two bodies were pulled out for now, but villagers fear that scores have perished. "I think there's a lot of dead. A lot of my relatives died, they're buried and we can't do anything," said farmer Diego Zeron. The mud collapsed on the village of 400 people during independence day celebrations last Monday, swallowing homes, the school and church before crashing into the river. The soldiers and civil protection workers, many wearing surgical masks, removed pieces of broken homes and chopped up fallen trees with machetes as stray dogs rummaged for food. The village church vanished; only its broken steeple was left, toppled on a mess of mud, with its cross broken. "People were in the church asking God to stop the rain," said Roberto Catalan, a 56-year-old farmer. "The earth had been bubbling. When we heard a bang, we ran out." The search for bodies was delayed several hours due to fears that water gushing from the mountain could trigger a new landslide. But troops finally arrived by helicopter or foot after a seven-hour hike on a winding mountain road covered by mud and rocks. Police helicopters evacuated more than 330 villagers to Acapulco, but a few families decided to stay back, waiting for news on the missing. A police helicopter that had been flying relief missions in the same mountain region in Guerrero state disappeared overnight after authorities lost contact with the crew. A defense ministry spokesman said military helicopters have been dispatched on a search mission but cloudy weather in the mountains is "limiting the flights.