Image source, Diko Betancourt/Anadolu via Getty ImagesBare hands and shovels shift through the rubble, while a drone scans overhead. Every moment, every action matters. It is a race against time to find survivors.
Here in the coastal state of La Guaira, which borders the capital district containing nearby Caracas, catastrophic damage is seen almost everywhere you look. The state has been one of the hardest-hit areas after back-to-back earthquakes struck Venezuela on Wednesday.
Residents and families are desperately searching the rubble for their loved ones and belongings. They are listening carefully for any sound that might indicate someone is alive trapped under the concrete and metal wire debris.
So far, officials have confirmed at least 1430 deaths from the magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes – the latter being one of the strongest quakes recorded in the country in the last century.
Hundreds of buildings collapsed and beneath the rubble, thousands of Venezuelans remain. The number of dead and injured rises by the hour. The UN estimates around 50,000 people are missing.
National rescue teams are scarce, although international rescuers from Mexico, Spain, the US and the UK have arrived to join the rescue effort.
But, it is still not enough.
Image source, AFP via Getty ImagesHumanitarian aid agencies say the first 48 to 72 hours are crucial for rescuing people alive, although this window can be longer if those trapped have access to food and water.
“Every person saved is a miracle,” says Jorge Rodríguez, president of the country’s National Assembly. “We will not hide anything about the scale of this tragedy.”
‘It’s impossible to rescue him without machinery’
In Catia La Mar, one of the coastal towns in La Guaira state, the mood is bleak. Few structures remain standing.
Government forces have distributed food and water to survivors, and interim President Delcy Rodríguez has said the government is deploying a comprehensive rescue response during these “critical hours to rescue people alive”.
People linger anxiously around areas where they believe their relatives might be trapped.
Jesús Suárez is one of them. He travelled 200km (124m) to search for his son, Jean Suárez.
“There’s no information at all. People who know him say they didn’t see him come out or anything.”
“I believe he might be in there,” he says pointing to the rubble of a collapsed building.
Suárez faces a dilemma that many here also share: “It’s impossible to rescue him… There is no sophisticated equipment here. A human being alone cannot do it – it’s too dangerous.”
Image source, Nicole Kolster/BBCThe relatives of Carlos Eduardo, a 31-year-old trapped under rubble, do know where he is.
From time to time, they hear him speak or groan.
“We started calling him: Carlos, Carlos, son… And then he made a sound (a groan). That was about an hour and a half ago,” his cousin told BBC News Mundo.
“Since then, we haven’t heard anything from him – he hasn’t spoken again or given any sign of life. But he had done this before. Yesterday afternoon he did the same (groaning and then going silent). And so here we are, waiting for help, hoping we can get him out alive.”
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Traffic and crowds can sometimes hinder the search operations. Soldiers and Mexican volunteers have repeatedly called for silence, so they can listen for signs of life under the debris.
People are helping however they can. Those who have drones are using them to search for survivors or the deceased in hard-to-reach places.
Families huddle around drone video feeds searching for anything familiar. A piece of clothing, a strand of hair, a belonging. Anything that might bring news of a loved one.
As time passes, the unofficial death toll rises – and so do the consequences.
“There’s a smell… the dead are already being felt. That’s going to make us and the children sick,” says Glendys Delgado.
Two buildings near where Delgado lives are collapsed, but there has been no official help, she says. “No one from the government has come here, but I thank God that people from Caracas have come to support us with food.”
Deiyer Gabril, 27, says every area has been affected, “Macuto, Caribe… everything over there is bad. And we can all feel the odour.”
Authorities reported on Friday that 861 volunteers from Mexico, the US, El Salvador, Switzerland, Colombia, and other countries were in Venezuela, with more arriving.
Interim President Rodríguez said she spoke with US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday, and that they reaffirmed their commitment to send rescue teams and aid supplies.
‘You try to stay strong for your children’
A woman stands in front of her destroyed home, her legs still shaking.
She pleads desperately: “We are waiting for humanitarian aid – we need them to come to help us.”
She had returned to her home to try to recover her washing machine.
“It’s a very difficult situation, we’re not prepared for this. The sacrifices and efforts you make to achieve things – and in the blink of an eye, everything collapses. But what matters is life,” she says.
Alexandra Gabino, 28, faces a similar situation – she has two children, aged seven and two.
She was in the car with her children and husband when the earthquakes struck.
“The children started screaming. We didn’t understand what was happening, and suddenly the building next door collapsed and my husband reversed the car,” she told BBC Mundo.
Image source, Nicole Kolster/BBCThe four of them are now sleeping in their vehicle in a car park at the Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía. The airport is closed due to damage, but offers a flat, open place away from buildings where the family can take shelter.
She waits outside their damaged building. Her husband is attempting to make it to their fifteenth‑floor flat. The building is unstable, but he is trying to retrieve some belongings and documents. “The essentials,” she says, since it’s dangerous and they cannot risk trying to recover too much.
“It’s painful to be left with nothing. My mother lost her home, we lost our home, we have nothing. You try to stay strong for your children,” she says.
And she adds something many feel: “Everyone says what matters is that you’re alive – and yes, but everything you’re going through hurts: seeing people suffer, hearing people scream, seeing children trapped, and the helplessness of not being able to do anything because you have to stay and look after your own children.
“You try to be strong, but it hurts.”
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