La Guaira searches for missing as Venezuela quake toll tops 4,300
Residents in Venezuela’s coastal La Guaira state say they are still digging for relatives after June earthquakes left tens of thousands missing.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
3 min read
Rescue crews and residents in Venezuela’s coastal state of La Guaira are still pulling bodies from collapsed buildings after earthquakes struck on June 24, Al Jazeera reported. The death toll has risen above 4,300, while the United Nations has estimated that 50,000 people remain missing in the rubble, according to the broadcaster.
Al Jazeera reported from La Guaira with the Qatar International Search and Rescue Group as its members worked alongside the Syrian White Helmets. The teams were seen trying to recover remains from concrete and broken tiles in intense midday heat, while families waited nearby for word of missing relatives.
The damage stretches along the coast toward Catia La Mar, according to Al Jazeera. The broadcaster described low-rise homes crushed flat, taller buildings toppled sideways and apartment blocks left open to view after exterior walls were torn away.
Families search without answers
Janet Viana, 72, told Al Jazeera she was waiting for rescuers to recover her son from a damaged tower on a hill near the coast. She said Venezuelan authorities had not provided help or heavy machinery for the search and had told residents the building would be demolished within days.
“I hope I can get my son’s body back before they tear it all down,” Viana told Al Jazeera. She added that she had little else to hope for because, in her view, there had been no response.
Javier Villegas, 30, told the broadcaster he had spent each day searching for his aunt inside a building that appeared close to collapse. He said about 38 bodies were believed to be trapped there, and that authorities would not send personnel inside because of the danger.
Villegas told Al Jazeera he understood the risk but questioned the government’s refusal to enter. He said he had not given up hope of finding his aunt alive nine days after the earthquake, while families continued trying to retrieve loved ones from the wreckage.
Government says rescue effort was immediate
The disaster has fueled public anger at Venezuela’s socialist-run government, Al Jazeera reported. Supporters of the government have pointed to state actions, including military control of several sites in La Guaira and an aid station distributing food, water, medical supplies and tools such as helmets, spades and saws.
La Guaira Governor Jose Alejandro Teran told Al Jazeera that the official response began immediately. He said government workers had rescued more than 6,000 people from the ruins.
Many Venezuelans interviewed by the broadcaster said they had been left to organize rescue efforts themselves. Al Jazeera reported that families were racing against time before heavy machinery moves in to demolish unstable structures and clear debris.
The search has also raised questions about how to report the dead with dignity. Al Jazeera said its crew was approached after filming the recovery of a woman whose identity was determined through a necklace; one of the men who objected said in English, “She is my mother.”
The broadcaster said quicklime had become common at recovery sites to reduce odor and slow decomposition. For residents still waiting outside damaged buildings, the work remains a daily effort to find the missing before the ruins are removed.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.