Families search rubble as Venezuela quake toll rises

Two weeks after two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela, families are still searching collapsed buildings for missing relatives as the confirmed death toll rises. Al Jazeera reported that about 3,811 people have been confirmed dead, while the number still unaccounted for remains unclear.

Crowdsourcing websites have logged about 40,000 missing-person cases, Al Jazeera reported, though experts cautioned that the lists may include repeat entries or people later found. Rescue teams have pulled 6,462 people alive from the wreckage, according to the report.

In La Guaira, one of the worst-hit areas, some families have moved to the edge of the ruins to wait for news. Adolfo Guerra travelled more than 400km from Portuguesa state to Los Corales, where his 23-year-old daughter, Alexandra, lived in an apartment building that collapsed.

Guerra has been sleeping near the rubble under a makeshift shelter with his wife and another daughter, Al Jazeera reported. He said the family still believes Alexandra could be alive beneath the debris.

Across La Guaira and Caracas, posters of the dead now cover public spaces, according to Al Jazeera. At a funeral parlour in La Guaira, staff said families arrive daily seeking missing relatives, while small wooden boxes hold the cremated remains of people who have been identified.

Santiago Rodriguez, who works at the funeral parlour, told Al Jazeera he went five days without sleep while helping grieving families. He said some bodies have been buried without names, with photographs kept in case relatives can identify them later.

Rodriguez said many bodies are now too decomposed for fingerprints. Al Jazeera reported that workers in forensic overalls were carrying bodies from the building into a van, with many being taken to a mass grave in La Esperanza, La Guaira.

A preliminary report by the United Nations Development Programme estimated that the quake left 1.2 million tonnes of debris across La Guaira, Al Jazeera reported. Rodriguez warned that heavy machinery could destroy remains still buried in the rubble once clearance work expands.

Some residents accused the government of failing to respond quickly enough. Al Jazeera reported that heavy equipment had not reached some collapsed buildings, while private companies had donated cranes, machinery and refrigerated containers; some cranes seen by the outlet were idle, and local people said they lacked fuel.

Many international rescue teams that came to Venezuela have already left as the chance of finding survivors has declined, Al Jazeera reported. The first 72 hours after an earthquake are considered the period when survival is most likely, and rescues become rarer after that.

Noel Marquez, a police officer from La Guaira, has been searching the ruins of OPP 27, a government-run social housing complex where he lived. Al Jazeera reported that his mother and grandfather’s ashes were nearby, while he believed other relatives, including his pregnant sister, remained under a concrete slab.

Marquez, who was using crutches after a motorcycle crash, criticised the government’s rescue effort, saying larger machinery was still missing at the site. Al Jazeera reported that only a small number of firefighters with concrete-cutting tools were present.

Volunteer rescuer Cesar Baez arrived in La Guaira with a 10-person Salvation Army team from Barquisimeto, according to Al Jazeera. Baez said rescuers were still seeking thermal cameras and sound equipment because some survivors might remain in air pockets or basements.

Other families are no longer expecting survivors and are waiting to recover bodies. Jiselly Ramirez, 25, told Al Jazeera she had been outside the ruins of the Arichuna apartment complex in Los Corales for two weeks, hoping to recover her older sister’s remains after exchanging messages with her until the earthquakes hit.

This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.