02:16

Reporter Nina Lakhani returned late Wednesday to La Condesa neighbourhood in Mexico City, which suffered severe damage in the earthquake:

The scene around the seven-story collapsed apartment block on Amsterdam Avenue in La Condesa could not be more different than the chaos of yesterday when hundreds of people clambered onto the rubble trying to find survivors.



Tonight, order has been restored to the search-and-rescue mission largely thanks to volunteer neighbours who have cordoned off every possible entrance to the excavation area in order to regulate who comes in and out.

Nina Lakhani (@ninalakhani) Back at the scene of collapsed 7-story apartment block in La Condesa. Heavily armed soldiers now control access; press three in three out pic.twitter.com/g7lNTCImS1

Lizbeth Yazmin Lopez, a computer software retailer, stood guard next to heavily armed soldiers and used a black marker pen to write the blood group and emergency contact number of every person granted permission to enter. “We had to do something to stop people just coming here to stare rather than help,” said Lopez.

Inside the cordoned off area, there were around 200 search and rescue workers, including dog handlers, civil protection officers, medical staff and officials with the army, navy and federal police. There were still lots of volunteers, but they were supporting rather than leading efforts by organizing food, equipment and the missing persons list, and helping move debris.

Nina Lakhani (@ninalakhani) Search and rescue mission at Amsterdam 107 in La Condesa under expert control tonight, very different from yesterday's chaotic ad hoc effort pic.twitter.com/f2Iij7qV5R

Around eight families have registered missing people here, but so far only one survivor has been rescued, according to volunteers on the scene. They said a man, between 40 and 50 years old, was pulled out earlier today in critical condition and taken to the hospital. Three other bodies have been found, the volunteers said.

But there is still hope. There was total silence while rescue workers used a sensor to painstakingly identify possible human activity. A rescue dog was then sent in, and as a result, two areas were identified and marked with green painted circles where digging will be targeted over the next few hours despite the pouring rain.