MEXICO CITY, Sept. 7 (Xinhuanet) -- Mexicans who survived Hurricane Katrina said police and firemen saved whites and left African-Americans and Latinos to die, Mexican press reported Wednesday.

    Maria Ines Tapia, who came from central Mexico, told the Mexican press in Houston that firemen and police agents did nothing for Latinos and African-Americans when they asked for water in New Orleans.

    Frustrated by hunger and desperation, African-Americans had begun to open fire. "They are using guns to demand food," she said.

    Tapia's family was rescued by volunteers in New Orleans but were "intercepted" by National Guardsmen who pointed their guns at them all the way out of the city, she said.

    Clasing Delgado, another survivor, said his family had sought refuge in an undestroyed building in New Orleans for seven days. There were elderly people of various nationalities that nobody came to save, he said.

    According to initial figures, 80 percent of those who lost their houses and now live in shelters are African-Americans and Latinos. However, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said earlier this week that "nobody, especially the president, would have left people unattended on the basis of race." Enditem