Results could be catastrophic. Three weeks after this programme revealed that some women are having to under go hysterectomies that some women are having to under go hysterectom ies to that some women are having to under go hysterectomies to remove a sterilisation device. The manufacturer has withdrawn it from sale across the eu. Women told us they had been left in excruciating pain. It felt like i was being stabbed over and over and there was a hot burning pain that never ended. Manufacturer is saying this morning that the decision is entirely commercial and not linked to safety. Well have all the details. 0ur our top story today. A devastating earthquake has hit mexico. It has killed nearly 250 people. It was a magnitude 7. 1 quake and hit at around lunch time and mexican Officials Say 248 people are confirmed dead. About half of those are in mexico city. At least 26 children are thought to have died in just one school that collapsed and another 30 pupils are missing. The earthquake brought down dozens of buildings in the capital and the surrounding areas. The Emergency Services, with the help of hundreds of volunteers, are desperately sifting through the rubble at this moment in an effort to find survivors. 18 people have been pulled alive from the rubble of a building in the capital. James cook sent us this latest report. Sirens. In mexico city they are struggling to save lives. This is one of the most densely packed places on earth. More than 20 Million People live here, and this earthquake has hit them hard. Translation we left, and when we left, the building started collapsing. I mean, 30 seconds after we left the building came down. In the minutes after the quake, columns of dust rose into the air, hinting at the devastation. In the capital alone, dozens of buildings, including schools and office blocks, were destroyed or damaged. Schoolchildren are among the dead. The president says its a national emergency. We are here in mexico city to help those people affected. Members of my cabinet are helping in the operation. There are medical centres available and Public Hospitals are opening up their services to everyone. The huge tremor struck around lunchtime, prompting panic and sending people running into the streets. Fires have been reported and people are being urged not to smoke because of the danger from gas lea ks. These distressing pictures appear to show a building coming down sometime after the initial shock. 0n the streets of the city, a Field Hospital with doctors treating patients anywhere they can. And its clear that the damage goes well beyond mexico city. The epicentre of the earthquake was actually more than 100 kilometres to the south east in puebla province, the reports of deaths and damages are widespread. Earthquake alarms did sound, but some residents apparently thought they were part of a day of drills on the anniversary of a devastating quake in 1985. Now 19th september will be remembered in mexico city for not one, but two disasters. One of the focal points of the rescue operation is a Primary School in the city, where at least 20 children are known to have died. Two teachers have also been killed, while more than 30 people are missing. Hundreds of people, including police, soldiers, marines and members of the public have been working tirelessly to search for survivors. There are reports that two people were rescued from the rubble. Jennifer swaddle teaches at the another school in mexico city. She was in a class when the earthquake struck. Here she explains what happened. Just as we were leaving the classroom, our outside wall collapsed, so that was really frightening, and nothing really prepares you, obviously you do your best to be professional and calm, but its hard to kind of disguise your fear. And obviously the students were very frightened, so it was a real, real tough task trying to remain composed. We have a procedure, which is a very sensible one, which is to leave all your belongings, but unfortunately with those belongings were mobile phones, and there was absolutely no way we were going to let students go back into the classrooms, so there was a communication issue. And obviously a lot of them were worried about parents who were working in the city centre and so on, so that was really frightening as well, the aftermath and confusion. Jesus chairez, from dallas, texas, was in the centre of mexico city when the earthquake happened. He said it was clear straight away how strong the quake was. I was in the subway station, and i got out of the subway stop and i walked into the street and i heard the alarm. And you usually have 60 seconds to get to open ground, but the ground started shaking right away, and we were looking at all the Tall Buildings around us swaying back and forth with lots of dust blowing in between them. It was very scary. The ground was moving underneath you, and you are just totally without control. Its very, very scary, and it was hard not to get emotional, and a lot of people were getting emotional. We can speak to daniel lieberson, a businessman who is in mexico city. And Vanessa Buendia who lives and works in the south of the city. Va nessa, vanessa, lets start with you. Can you just describe what happened when the earthquake hit where you were . Yes, well, thank you. Actually i was just taking a shower when i was coming out, my roommate, i heard her yell, earthquake. Coming out, my roommate, i heard her yell, ea rthquake. I coming out, my roommate, i heard her yell, earthquake. Isaw coming out, my roommate, i heard her yell, earthquake. I saw the chandelier in my room swinging from side to side. I grabbed a towel and iran side to side. I grabbed a towel and i ran out side to side. I grabbed a towel and iran out and then i remember i left my phone. My parents live outside the city, i needed to reach them so i went back in and i could hear the furniture, you know, toppling and the ceiling cracking and everything. So, it was kind of foolish of me to do that, but i got out safely and the most shocking thing was that still outside, you could see the house moving and you could see the floor underneath you actually jumping up and down. Its frightening. What a frightening experience. Presumably if the floor is moving like that, its difficult to run . Its very difficult actually because you get a little bit light headed so youre trying to get outside as quickly as you can, but at the same time, i mean, you cant because physically, its very difficult. Daniel, if we can come to you and obviously we can see the night time in mexico city at the moment which will, of course, make it more difficult for the rescuers who are attempting to do things. What was your experience and whats the city like at the moment . Thank you very much. I think its very similar situation. I was on the 26th floor of the hilton hole tell which is the second highest building in mexico city. You had to crawl out. Right now, as you said, it is night time. The officials, the police have told us the officials, the police have told us to stay off the streets. There is only ambulances, fire engines and some volunteer trucks going by because there is people trapped in the rubble and there is a lot of looting going on weve been told. Some of the stores have been damaged, the doors and the windows and people are taking advantage and entering the stores so they have asked us to stay off the streets. Mexico city was built on a lake bed. So we really feel the 7. 1, it feels a lot stronger. I used to live in chile and africa and kenya, near the rift valley and this was much, much stronger. Its clear that you are very high up in the hotel that youre staying in at the moment. Were you in that room when it happened . Im in the 25th floor. I was on the 26th in a business meeting and everyone knew it was an earthquake, but there was no way to get out. We couldnt go down the stairs until later, but when we went down the stairs, the water main had broke and there was a lot of water flowing down the stairwells and there was a woman who had to be carried out. She was in a wheelchair and she was carried down 20 flights of stairs, so it was a frightening time. A lot of people are sleeping in the lobby of the hotel now because they are afraid that there is going to be some aftershocks. Because they are afraid that there is going to be some aftershocksm sounds frightening what youre both describing. I wonder daniel if we start with you and then vanessa. What goes through your mind apart from get out . I think what goes through your mind is, you know, oh my god, i hope this doesnt go on for very long. I had my god, i hope this doesnt go on forvery long. I had the my god, i hope this doesnt go on for very long. I had the experience in africa that it would start small and get bigger. So you just dont know how long its going to be. I always think about hurricane. A hurricane tells you it is coming. An earthquake, you just never know when and how long and how strong. I think thats the big thing. It is the fear of the unknown. Vanessa . Yeah, well, for me, its very aware from where i live that you can actually feel earthquakes, so just feeling live that you can actually feel earthquakes, sojust feeling it, it was quite alarming. I started thinking the first thing was my family and my friends. Within minutes i started getting videos and photos through my whatsapp about what was happening in the city. So, that was really the distressing because it took me between 60 and 90 minutes to get hold of my parents and most of my parents. So that was my pain main worry, how can i help . If we try to leave the house, traffic was congested and it was horrible and we went to a shop and people were just, you horrible and we went to a shop and people werejust, you know, buying everything they could. So, that was distressing not being able to speak to people and just not knowing how to people and just not knowing how to help. And what vanessa is the alert system like . Well, we do have an alert system. Its an app. It goes off about 30 to 40 seconds before the actual earthquake hits, but today, the epicentre was just 50 to o but today, the epicentre was just 50 to 0 kilometres from the city so we had actually no time. Sorry, youre both talking in terms of the fa ct youre both talking in terms of the fact that, earthquakes are a relatively common occurrence in mexico. We know that there was the one a couple of weeks ago. And yet this one seems to have done more damage and sadly caused more death than previously ones recenty . Yes, thats mostly because a, the epicentre was closer to the city for starters and secondly, the last earthquake was much more asilltry which means that things move from side to side. This occasion things moved from side to side and also they werejurping moved from side to side and also they were jurping up and down so thats what made the damage worse. Daniel, you talked about the curfew in place. How would you characterise the response so far . Mexico, we still class it as a developing country, but it is a richer nation thanit country, but it is a richer nation than it was in the past. It has got resources. Than it was in the past. It has got resources. Do you think it has what it needs to cope . I think it does. As you mentioned, today there was a sill lation because in 1985 there was a big earthquake in mexico city so was a big earthquake in mexico city soa was a big earthquake in mexico city so a lot of people were trained and in place. We saw a lot of people out there immediately. They took us across from the hotel to the park. They brought water to people, they we re they brought water to people, they were helping people who had fallen down and people with broken arms, mexico did a really good job. A lot of buildings collapsed and i still wonder if a lot of those buildings truly meet the earthquake code thats required in mexico. 0r truly meet the earthquake code thats required in mexico. Or if theyre just so old and they have gone through so many earthquakes that itjust gone through so many earthquakes that it just accumulated and that caused the down fall of those buildings. It is the middle of the night. The city behind you, perhaps you can show us a little bit of it, does it, is it less busy than it normally would be . Absolutely. There are almost no cars and this is one of the biggest cities in the world in terms of population. And like i said, ambulances, fire engines, a few police cars going around, but theyve told people to stay off the streets and you know not to be out there. They said its dangerous because there could be a smaller earthquake, butjust because there could be a smaller earthquake, but just because because there could be a smaller earthquake, butjust because they shouldnt get in the way. So there is maybe a few cars going by. I dont see any right now at all. But it is 3am in the morning and usually this is more like new york city, you will see a lot more cars 24 hours a day. Va nessa, day. Vanessa, in terms of the damage in the area that you are in, can you assess it . Have many people died . Well, my neighbourhood particularly is quite safe, butjust nearby, we have a university. It is the university i went to. The buildings are connected through bridges and all the bridges fell down. A p pa re ntly all the bridges fell down. Apparently there is about 40 people injured and five people already declared dead. Also some people were saying there was four people died in another area and the school you were mentioning earlier, thats most of the damage here, you know, down south. If you go to the areas where daniel is, its much worse. Traditionally this happens, they are the worst hit areas and in 1985 they we re the worst hit areas and in 1985 they were completely destroyed and now, most of my friends that live there andi most of my friends that live there and i used to live there, they cant go back home because the structures arejust, well, go back home because the structures are just, well, they go back home because the structures arejust, well, they cant go back home because the structures are just, well, they cant be reliable. You mentioned the school which we still believe there are children trapped, do you have any knowledge of what is happening there and what sort of a school it snis is . From what i understand it is a kinder gar ten and they were saying there was 22 dead, but i think they found a pocket of 20 children are ok. I cant confirm that. But i have been hearing on social media and on the television those are the rumours. There is nonstop footage about the school. Theyre trying to bring a lot of equipment, it is very difficult to get the kids out and the structures that fell are very old and have survived many earthquakes. So we are talking children of three, four, five years old . Yes mostly. Up to six years old i think. That is a chilling note to end it on, but lets hope that Emergency Rescue operation getting to them. Thank you both very much. Stay safe as well with the thought of aftershocks. Thank you for staying up and joining us. In the past few minutes mexico red cross said it is providing paramedics to help support rescue work. The group is asking people to donate equipment such as shovels and lamps. 0ne pre budget reporter one reporter has given us the latest. There is chaos and dozens of people thatjust didnt know what was going on. But they wanted in some way to help many residents remained outside for hours after the shaking. It has been obviously a tragic and very distressing day here. The death toll is going to rise. There are still rescue efforts under way in different parts of the country and here in mexico city this is a place still in shock. Dozens and dozens of buildings were destroyed. And the death toll will rise. My understanding is that at least in the capital here, at least 50 buildings collapsed and we have to remember this is a city prepared for these kind of earthquakes, because and on this very same day 32 years ago, an earthquake struck the capital and left around 10,000 people dead. Since then, construction regulations have been put in place, theyre much tougher. But still theyre not enough to resist quakes like this one. The advice and clearly thousands of people here have been following it, is to be on the streets. I havent, i dont know of many people going back to their home and houses, because in many cases its not clear that the damage of those constructions could have suffered. So clearly the message now is to be on the streets. That probably is the safest place to be. Luckily in the last ten hours, i havent felt any aftershock here in mexico city. Well bring you the very latest updates from mexico throughout the programme. That rescue operation continues at the school. The kindergarten we understand in her part of mexico city. Perhaps 20 or 30 children as young as three years old could still be trapped. They believe there is a pocket in which a group of children at least are in and theyre trying to get help to them. We are going to be following that. And all the other developments coming out of mexico. You can also follow live updates on the bbc website at bbc. Co. Uk news. Annita is in the bbc newsroom with a summary of the days news. As weve been hearing, a devastating earthquake has struck central mexico, killing nearly 250 people. About 20 children are known to have died in just one school after it collapsed and at least 30 other pupils are missing. The 7. 1 magnitude quake toppled dozens of buildings in the capital, mexico city where a state of disaster has been declared. Rescue workers are continuing to sift through the rubble in an effort to find survivors. Hurricane maria has begun lashing the Us Virgin Islands in the caribbean where residents have been warned the impact could be catastrophic. The category five storm has once again intensified, with winds now gusting at 165mph. People in the Virgin Islands and puerto rico are being adviced to find shelter. Police investigating last weeks bombing at Parsons Green tube station in london have made a third arrest. A 25 year old man was detained yesterday evening in newport in south wales, and a search was carried out at an address in the city. Two other men remain in custody. A Major Pharmaceutical Company has withdrawn sales of a sterilisation implant from every where except the us after it was exposed to have dangerous side effects. The firm said the decision to stop selling essu re said the decision to stop selling essure was taken for commercial reasons. Essure was taken for commercial reasons. Theresa may will use a speech at the United Nations later today to urge Internet Companies to take action against online extremism. The Prime Minister will host a meeting with other World Leaders and firms including facebook and microsoft. Police in brazil say a british woman has been murdered while att