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🇳🇮 Nicaragua /Disasters & Emergencies

Venezuelan families fight despair, hold onto hope after deadly earthquakes

From Confidencial · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Ongoing story
  • Families in Venezuela are struggling to maintain hope ten days after devastating earthquakes, with rescue efforts becoming increasingly difficult.
  • Despite the low chances, families cling to the belief that loved ones trapped in the rubble may still be alive, with reports of possible signals from survivors.
  • Official figures report thousands injured, homeless, and rescued, with hundreds of buildings affected, while militarization and food queues are visible in affected areas.

Ten days after devastating earthquakes struck Venezuela, families are fighting despair and clinging to hope, searching for loved ones amidst the rubble. The region of La Guaira, the hardest-hit area near Caracas, continues rescue operations, though the mission grows more impossible by the day. Families are pleading for intensified search efforts and assistance in clearing debris to continue looking for survivors.

In Playa Grande, rescuers have found no signs of life in a completely collapsed building. However, families gathered nearby reported hearing interference from a military radio early Friday, believing it to be a trapped security guard attempting to communicate. Meanwhile, in the Caraballeda sector, the family of Fabio, a 9-year-old boy buried under his building's debris, holds onto hope, with his father, Francisco Bastardo, telling EFE, "He will appear."

He will appear.

— Francisco BastardoThe father of a 9-year-old boy trapped in earthquake debris, expressing his hope.

Official figures released by Parliament President Jorge Rodríguez indicate 12,666 injured and 15,050 people left homeless, with 86,117 families receiving aid. Additionally, 6,462 people have been rescued, and 885 buildings were affected, including 189 that completely collapsed. The number of missing persons has not been provided.

La Guaira experienced increased militarization nine days after the double earthquake. Long queues for food were observed as debris removal continued. In a somber farewell, about forty people gathered on La Guaira beach to commemorate victims of the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes, including Leonardo Suárez's mother, wife, two daughters, a nephew, and his wife's grandmother, who managed a family kiosk there. Portraits of the six deceased were placed on small wooden boxes holding their ashes.

It is not easy at all.

— Leonardo SuárezA man mourning the loss of six family members in the earthquakes.
DistantNews Editorial

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

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