Father Seeks Daughter Rescued from Rubble After La Guaira Earthquake
Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.
At a glance
- Santiago López is searching for his 24-year-old daughter, Sabrina López, who was rescued from building debris in La Guaira after an earthquake but lost track of her during hospital transfers.
- Sabrina was extracted alive from the Residencias Caribe building after a June 24 earthquake but her family lost contact when she was placed in an ambulance due to difficulties in the hospital registration system.
- The family is concerned due to Sabrina's severe injuries, including significant trauma to her face, chest, and a critical arm wound, and is appealing for public assistance to locate her.
A desperate father is appealing for help to find his daughter, who was rescued from earthquake debris but subsequently disappeared within the overwhelmed medical system. Santiago López is searching for his 24-year-old daughter, Sabrina López, who was pulled alive from the rubble of the Residencias Caribe building in La Guaira following a powerful earthquake on June 24.
The rescue personnel prevented the young woman's mother from boarding the ambulance as an accompanying person so as not to compromise medical attention space.
After her extraction by rescue teams around 6:00 p.m. on the day of the disaster, Sabrina was placed into an emergency ambulance. However, due to difficulties with hospital registration and the sheer volume of patients, her family lost track of her whereabouts. The rescue personnel reportedly prevented Sabrina's mother from accompanying her in the ambulance to ensure medical space was available.
Since then, the family has scoured multiple hospitals, clinics, and temporary care centers across the central coast and Caracas, but has found no official record of Sabrina's final destination. Their anxiety is amplified by the severity of her injuries, which reportedly include contusions to her face and chest, and a critical wound to one of her lower limbs and an arm.
The family has visited multiple hospitals, health centers, and provisional contingency centers in both the central coast and Caracas, without obtaining official records about the definitive health center where she was admitted.
Santiago López, who also sustained minor injuries while attempting to help his daughter, is pleading for immediate assistance from medical professionals and the public to identify the hospital where Sabrina is being treated. This situation highlights the profound challenges in tracking and identifying affected individuals amidst disaster zones, where overloaded emergency services and patient transfers have severely hampered the consolidation of patient records.
The concern of the family environment is accentuated due to the severity of the traumatisms described during the collapse of the residential structure.
Originally published by El Nacional in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.