Mexico’s famous Los Topos Aztecas search and rescue specialists were flown to Rome by the International Scientology Volunteer Ministers headquarters to assist Central Italy in the enormous task of locating survivors and the dead in the wake of the August 24 earthquake.

Los Topos Aztecas are a group of dedicated volunteers, now in Italy to assist with search and rescue following the August 24 Central Italy earthquake.

 

Los Topos means “the moles,” and  in an interview on Italian TV the group’s president and founder, Hector Mendez, described how his team, like their namesakes, crawl underground. They dig through the rubble, searching for missing persons and the bodies of the dead.

Mendez founded the group in 1985 after responding to the catastrophic Mexico City earthquake. Over the past 30 years, the group has helped in disasters around the world, from the Haiti earthquake to the Japan tsunami, and from Iran to the United States where they worked alongside the firemen in the days following the collapse of the Twin Towers.

Mendez and his team were flown to Rome by the Scientology Volunteer Ministers, with whom they have partnered since working together in Haiti. He and many of the Topos have trained in the technology of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers, which they use to help people recover from the trauma of devastating circumstances.