A baby boy born in the very midst of hellish scenes as Tuesday’s deadly earthquake struck Mexico City has provided hope and inspiration to a country in mourning after the loss of at least 230 lives, including 21 children in a school.

“It was a miracle,” said first-time mother Jessica Mendoza of the birth of Adolfo Iñaki on a bench in the street outside the Sanatorio Durango hospital in Roma Norte, one of the worst-affected neighbourhoods in the Mexican capital.

“The world was falling around us and he came to save ours. It’s the greatest message of love and example of strength and bravery for the world,” Mrs Mendoza’s husband, Amado Ortiz, told the newspaper El País.