Venezuela quake toll hits 1,430 as La Guaira residents decry rescue delays

Residents and rescuers in La Guaira are racing to find survivors after Venezuela's deadly earthquakes. Mounting anger over the official response is intensifying as the missing count keeps rising.

In Short

• Rescuers and locals kept digging through debris as survival hopes faded
• Families reported nearly 68,900 missing, deepening panic across battered coastal communities
• Residents accused officials of posing for photos instead of helping

Tensions rose in Venezuela on Saturday as rescuers and residents searched for survivors of the powerful earthquakes that struck three days ago, with the death toll climbing to 1,430. The government said families had reported at least 68,900 people missing after the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude quakes devastated the country.

La Guaira, one of the worst-hit states, became the centre of a desperate race to find people trapped under collapsed buildings. International rescue teams continued to arrive as anger spread over what many people saw as an inadequate government response, even as officials said thousands of security personnel had been deployed and more rescue workers were landing in the country.

Across La Guaira, people searching for relatives and neighbours used shovels, ropes, heavy equipment and their bare hands to dig through mounds of broken concrete. In the seaside town of Caraballeada, Mileidy Romero, who was among those searching, said: "There's a pile of bodies over there from last night. Newborn babies. At 8 p.m. (yesterday) there were people alive down there, and they haven't bothered to rescue them. We've located several bodies, and they haven't helped us recover them either. What are they waiting for?"

Aid agencies consider the first 48 to 72 hours crucial for pulling out people alive, although that window can be longer if those trapped have access to food and water. Venezuelan officials said 17 flights carrying more than 1,600 rescue team members had arrived by Saturday.

Acting President Delcy Rodrguez said on state television that more than 14,000 members of the military and police were patrolling the area, where access has been blocked and special permits are needed to enter. But many people in the disaster zone said they had seen little sign of the government. Some climbed onto the remains of buildings and called out names in the hope of hearing a response. Dust covered coastal communities, and as the smell of decomposition spread in the heat, more people put on masks. In another part of La Guaira, teams unloaded bodies from white trucks at the parking area of a dirt-floor hospital for identification.

Without hard hats, rescuers and civilians used motorcycle helmets while searching through debris left from homes and buildings, including DVDs, a kitchen sink, mattresses and shoes. At one collapse site, residents stopped an excavator from leaving and pulled the operator from the cabin after state workers took selfies in front of flattened buildings and left without helping. A few feet away, at least five bodies lay wrapped in blankets. Yeison Marcano, who was in the crowd, said searchers had received some assistance from an investigations unit, but not from the police or National Guard. "They came to eat arepas and take pictures to make it look like they were working," Marcano said. "They didn't even get their uniforms dirty like we have. We've been here for three days." Shortly afterwards, a man tried to grab a firefighter while shouting and cursing, before rescuers called for silence to check whether anyone was still alive beneath the rubble.

Elsewhere, an older man was pulled from the ruins of a public housing building. Disoriented, he begged a nurse for water and struggled with personnel as they put him into a pickup truck, screaming, "My family! My family!"

The International Organization for Migration said more than 6 million people could be affected, including about 2 million in the capital, Caracas. Experts said the destruction was made worse by the rapid succession of shallow quakes. Smaller aftershocks continued to shake Caracas and other affected areas for days, including one measuring 4.8 on Saturday.

The disaster has become a major test for Rodrguez, the former vice president who took office in January after the US capture and removal of then-president Nicols Maduro. Venezuela has faced economic disorder for more than a decade, and many people reject the legitimacy of the political movement Rodrguez represents.

Search teams and aid from Mexico, the US, Brazil, El Salvador, France and other countries kept arriving. On Saturday, Mexican rescue teams climbed over collapsed buildings and pushed their heads into gaps in the flattened concrete to look for signs of life, at times hearing movement. "We're rescuers from the Mexican military, if there's anyone down there still alive, make noise or scream. Now!" one man shouted.

For many residents, the arrival of foreign teams offered some hope. Yonah Regalado said she had been calling out the names of her sister and her one-year-old nephew and godson since 1 a.m. the day after the earthquakes until aid workers arrived. "It doesn't matter who it is, whoever, whether it's family or somebody else. If there is anyone alive, let's get them out," she said, as helicopters flew overhead.

Simón Bolvar International Airport, which serves Caracas, was also badly damaged. Jeremy Lewin, a senior US State Department official in charge of foreign assistance, said one runway was working as US teams tried to repair the airport. He said the US military would help coordinate flights bringing in search and rescue workers, mobile hospitals and supplies, and that a US Navy transport ship was stationed off the coast to receive survivors needing medical care. Lewin said it was a "race against the clock" to find people injured in the quakes.

As the search entered another critical day, La Guaira remained gripped by grief, anger and urgency, with residents and rescue teams continuing efforts to find survivors while the death toll and number of missing kept mounting.

With PTI Inputs

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