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MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico's federal transportation agency has fired its local representative for not responding immediately to warnings of problems before a sinkhole opened in a major highway and caused the deaths of two men.
Federal Transportation Secretary Gerardo Ruiz Esparza also says in a Thursday statement that he has instructed his agency's legal department to pursue legal action against those responsible.
Early Wednesday, a sinkhole spanning two lanes on the recently redone highway connecting Mexico City and the Pacific coast resort of Acapulco opened near Cuernavaca. The victims' car drove into it and landed upside down.
Ruiz Esparza acknowledged on Radio Formula that the department's Morelos state office received a letter July 3 from residents warning that a drain was overwhelmed and a highway wall was about to collapse.
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