Aid group says hundreds may be trapped after Venezuela quakes
Project HOPE's Cesar Jimenez told NPR that rescue crews are searching rubble as damaged hospitals struggle with aftershocks and outages.
By Lucas Ferreira · Science & Environment Writer
2 min read
Rescue crews in Venezuela are trying to reach hundreds of people believed to be under collapsed buildings after powerful earthquakes hit the country Wednesday, according to Cesar Jimenez of Project HOPE. Jimenez told NPR’s Morning Edition that the disaster has damaged health facilities, cut power and communications, and left responders working under the threat of aftershocks.
Jimenez, a member of Project HOPE’s response team, said the hardest-hit areas have extensive building damage. He described apartment blocks, hotels, businesses and homes that were partly or fully brought down by the quakes.
The emergency is stretching Venezuela’s medical system, Jimenez told NPR. Some health centers are still functioning after sustaining moderate damage, while others have been so badly damaged that staff cannot safely care for patients inside them.
Aftershocks remain a major concern for medical workers and rescuers, Jimenez said. He told NPR that patients cannot be treated in buildings that might come down, even as the need for care grows.
Hospitals and rescuers face outages
Jimenez said responders are also dealing with broad power and communications failures. Those outages can slow coordination between rescue teams, health facilities and aid groups, according to his account to NPR.
Local civil protection teams are continuing to search for survivors, Jimenez said. He told NPR that crews are racing against time because hundreds of people remain believed to be trapped beneath debris.
International help has started to arrive, according to Jimenez. He said aid has come from countries including El Salvador, Mexico, Switzerland and the United States.
The outside assistance includes search-and-rescue teams with dogs, along with water, medical supplies and equipment, Jimenez told NPR. Those resources are joining the local response as Venezuela works through damage across affected communities.
Jimenez said the country’s health system was not ready for an emergency of this scale. He told NPR that a disaster of this kind would test any nation’s capacity, while Venezuela’s hospitals are already coping with damaged buildings and unsafe conditions.
Images from the aftermath showed the human toll in coastal areas near the capital. An Associated Press photo carried by NPR showed police removing a body from rubble in La Guaira on Thursday, one day after the earthquakes struck.
Another image from Catia La Mar in La Guaira state, about 30 kilometers northwest of Caracas, showed a man carrying a mattress past damaged residential buildings, according to NPR’s photo caption. Jimenez said the destruction in the worst-hit areas was severe and that rescue work was continuing.
This story draws on original reporting from NPR.