Mexico Earthquake
The coffins adorned with candles and flowers. Photo: AP

A total of eleven coffins adorned with candles and flowers lined the streets of Atzala, a town and municipality in Puebla in south-eastern Mexico, after members of two families lost their lives due to the magnitude 7.1 earthquake that stroke the Latin American nation.

Families were inside the Santiago the Apostle Catholic Church celebrating the baptism of a three-month-old baby when the earthquake caused the roof to collapse, crushing them. The only survivors were the baby's father, the priest and the priest's assistant, CNN reports.

Mexico Earthquake
The remains of the church after it collapsed during an earthquake. Photo: AP

Graciano Villanueva told El Universal that he lost six members of his family in the church, including his wife, daughter and two granddaughters. Villanueva and his wife were godparents to Elideth Torres de Leon, the three-month-old baby who was supposed to be baptized that day. "I'm the only one in my family," he said.

Each coffin had to be identified with the names of the victims in order to locate them.

The National Civil Protection reported that the death toll for the 7.1 magnitude earthquake rose to 248, confirming that Mexico City registers the largest number of victims. Searchers are still looking for faint voices in the rubble, and using trained dogs and their hands to reach any survivors.

Mexican president, Enrique Peña Nieto, reported that there is at least one command of the armed forces at the sites of the landslides, to organize brigades and groups of volunteers. "Thousands of members of the Army, Navy and Federal Police are assisting the population," Peña Nieto said in a statement.

"We are in full coordination with the civil protection bodies, with the Chief of Government of Mexico City and the governors of the States of Mexico, Guerrero, Morelos and Puebla, the entities that suffered the greatest damages."

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