Mothers covered their newborns with their bodies as a ceiling collapsed or walked out barefoot cradling their babies after a gas truck exploded, demolishing a maternity hospital in Mexico City.
The blast killed two babies and a nurse, and injured dozens.
Hundreds of rescuers, some with dogs, scoured the rubble of the Maternity and Children's Hospital in the Cuajimalpa borough after the huge blast, though officials were hopeful that nobody remained trapped.
"I remember the cries of the babies under the rubble and the screams of my colleagues," said Ivonne Ortega, a nurse who was injured as she helped evacuate the newborns.
Mexico City health secretary Armando Ahued said a nurse and a baby died on the spot, and a second baby succumbed from injuries in another hospital.
He said 73 people were injured and that nine babies were in delicate condition.
Around three-quarters of the building collapsed after the blast, which took place around 7am on Thursday after workers were unable to control a pipe leak, Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera said.
The truck's three operators were detained, and two of them were hospitalised, Mancera said. Their employer was identified as Gas Express Nieto, which services 31 city hospitals.
Mancera said a bigger tragedy was avoided because fewer people were in the hospital at that time and they had about 10 minutes to evacuate before the gas leak turned into an explosion.
About 100 people were in the building, officials said.
By midday, nobody was reported missing, but Mancera said the search would continue until authorities were "100 per cent" certain no one was trapped under the rubble.
Officials gave conflicting death tolls during the day, at one point reporting four babies dead, before retracting.
Relatives of survivors recounted how mothers saved their babies.
Jose Eduardo Manriquez, 22, came out smiling from the Enrique Cabrera hospital, where his wife and newborn son were taken after the blast. They were both doing well.
"My wife grabbed the baby, turned over and the ceiling fell on her. It didn't hurt her," he said, adding that she complained of chest pains, which doctors attributed to gas inhalation.
His wife was rescued by a police officer and she walked out of the rubble barefoot.
Jose Miguel Venegas, 30, visited his 26-year-old wife and third son, who was born on Wednesday night.
"She protected the baby. She held him in her arms and the ceiling fell on top of her," Venegas said, adding that she suffered facial injuries.
Israel Santiago, a 29-year-old security guard, had a similar story.
"My wife says that the roof fell where she was. But luckily she was trapped between the bed and the crib with the boy in her arms. She protected him," he said.
Neighbours recounted smelling a strong odour of gas and then hearing an explosion that shattered house windows and caused doors to slam open.
Adults with bloodied faces were rushed into ambulances.
Ivan Rodriguez, 28, said he was at home with his brother next to the hospital and thought an earthquake had hit the city.
"Suddenly I heard a big bang," he said. "The house's doors opened as if they were kicked open and I shouted: 'Let's go, it's trembling!'"
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