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🇮🇹 Italy /Disasters & Emergencies

Shock over children's massacre, 'buried while at a party'

From ANSA · () Italian

Translated from Italian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Ongoing story
  • A young Venezuelan volunteer described the horrific discovery of children's bodies at a party site after a building collapse.
  • Maikel La Rosa, working amidst the rubble in La Guaira, expressed deep emotional distress over the tragedy.
  • The incident highlights the devastating impact of the disaster on families and the community's efforts to cope.

Amidst the devastation of a building collapse in La Guaira, Venezuela, a young volunteer named Maikel La Rosa shared a harrowing account of discovering the bodies of children who had been attending a party. His testimony, which has gone viral on social media, captures the profound emotional toll the disaster has taken on those working tirelessly to find survivors.

The bodies we are recovering are of children... children who were attending a party.

— Maikel La RosaDescribing the tragic discovery amidst the rubble.

La Rosa, visibly distraught and in tears, described the macabre discovery while working for days on the rubble. "I'm sick just thinking about it: we've been working here for hours. And the bodies we're pulling out, we discovered they were all from a children's party. It hurts so much and I want to cry, really. You can't imagine," he recounted, his voice choked with emotion.

I'm sick just thinking about it: we've been working here for hours. And the bodies we're pulling out, we discovered they were all from a children's party. It hurts so much and I want to cry, really. You can't imagine.

— Maikel La RosaExpressing his emotional distress over the find.

He explained that the collapsed building was the largest in the area, and the realization that the victims were children celebrating a party made the situation particularly unbearable. "It was a children's party when the building collapsed. It's the most difficult moment of my life," he admitted, his shirt still covered in debris. He is using makeshift tools to navigate the dangerous crevices of the collapsed structures, often risking his own life due to the constant threat of aftershocks and further collapses.

It was a children's party when the building collapsed. It's the most difficult moment of my life.

— Maikel La RosaRecounting the horror of the event.

Despite the overwhelming grief, La Rosa continues his efforts, driven by the urgency of time and the hope of finding more survivors. However, the images of the buried children continue to haunt him. "It's a tremendous feeling. I know I have to be strong, but one doesn't even imagine these things. This story is causing me a lot of pain," he said, reiterating in disbelief, "There was a children's party when the building collapsed."

It's a tremendous feeling. I know I have to be strong, but one doesn't even imagine these things. This story is causing me a lot of pain.

— Maikel La RosaSharing the profound impact of the tragedy.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ANSA in Italian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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