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🇻🇪 Venezuela /Disasters & Emergencies

An angel in the darkness of the powerful earthquakes in Venezuela

From El Nacional · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

In-depth Sources not specified Outcome reported
  • Pedro Cordido survived nearly 30 hours trapped in rubble after his 12-story building collapsed during earthquakes in Venezuela's La Guaira state.
  • He lost his godson and his godson's wife in the collapse and described the total darkness and lack of air he experienced.
  • Volunteer rescuer Erick Roa and his team located Cordido, with Roa talking to him for over four hours to keep him awake and hopeful.

Pedro Cordido described the terror of being trapped for nearly 30 hours in the fetal position after his 12-story building in La Guaira state collapsed during powerful earthquakes on June 24. The twin tremors, measuring 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude, devastated the northern region of Venezuela.

The darkness was total, the air was lacking. I could not move in any direction, I was trapped between sharp fragments of concrete... and when I thought I had to resign myself to die, I heard the voice of Roa.

— Pedro CordidoDescribing his experience trapped in the rubble.

In the moments the building crumbled, Cordido witnessed his godson, Hernando, and his wife being engulfed by a "whirlwind of dust." He was unable to help them. Trapped amidst sharp concrete fragments, with no light and failing air, Cordido felt resigned to death until he heard the voice of Erick Roa, a 50-year-old rescuer.

Roa was part of a five-person volunteer rescue team that converged on La Guaira after hearing reports of cries from the debris. Guided by a woman who heard the calls, the team formed a human chain in the pitch darkness, using a small flashlight. Roa and his companions crawled and then created an opening to reach Cordido.

There was no light coming through a crack in the debris, despair wanted to flood me.

— Pedro CordidoRecounting the psychological impact of being trapped.

"There was no light coming through a crack in the debris, despair wanted to flood me," Cordido recounted to AFP from his daughter's home in Caracas. Roa, a former military nurse, spoke to Cordido for four and a half hours, striving to keep him awake and maintain his hope. Roa described the rescue effort as "exhausting, a madness" given the extensive work to find survivors and recover bodies.

It has been exhausting, a madness.

— Erick RoaDescribing the intensity of the rescue operations.

Official figures state 6,462 people have been rescued, many by volunteers like Roa. The United Nations estimates up to 50,000 people are missing, a figure the government has not addressed. Roa, who has a "Faith in God" tattoo, was motivated to help others after a personal crisis two years prior. "I had desperation to try to get him out, I always spoke to him, telling him 'stay still, you're coming out with me,'" Roa recalled of his efforts to reach Cordido. He had traveled from Caracas to La Guaira after learning his ex-girlfriend was missing, but after finding her safe, he stayed to assist in the rescue operations.

I always spoke to him, telling him 'stay still, you're coming out with me.'

— Erick RoaRecalling his efforts to keep the survivor hopeful.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by El Nacional in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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