Clinging to one another and to life itself as floodwaters engulfed their house last week, an elderly Mexican couple became a symbol of hope as video of their desperate struggle for survival went viral.

Hilario Reynosa and Elodia Reyes barely made it out alive from the floods that ravaged the country's center and east, claiming dozens of lives with many more still missing.

While their house in Poza Rica in Veracruz state was gone, the pair spoke to AFP Wednesday at the home of a neighbor who took them in.

"The strong current came and took her away. I dove in to look for her but couldn't find her," Reynosa recounted of the ordeal. His wife cannot swim.

"A taxi driver said: 'look, your old lady is coming up there.' I told her: 'don't move from there, I'm jumping in right now.' ... I swam

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