Window narrows for rescuing Venezuela quake survivors
LA GUAIRA, Venezuela—The situation has grown more desperate by the hour in Venezuela as people dig through the rubble of collapsed homes and apartment buildings three days after the devastating one-two punch of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes, knowing time is running out to find survivors.
The death toll from twin earthquakes rose Friday to 920, with tens of thousands reported missing as international rescue teams boosted a desperate and slow-moving search for survivors
Authorities announced Friday night that they would block access to La Guaira, the epicenter of the destruction, as chaos and traffic began to hamper search efforts. Officials said anyone who wants to enter would now have to seek official permits, but provided few details of who would be allowed in.
Venezuelans took the search for missing loved ones into their own hands, citing a scarcity of government rescuers. People reported seeing few state rescue teams in the hardest-hit areas, despite authorities projecting an image of a robust government response.
Aid agencies consider the first 48 to 72 hours to be a crucial time frame to retrieve people alive, though that can be extended if they have access to food and water.
“Each person saved is a miracle,” said Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly. “We are not going to hide absolutely anything about the magnitude of this tragedy.”
‘Critical hours’
In the state of La Guaira, just north of the capital, Caracas, Nazareth Jimenez sobbed into a loved one’s shoulder as she watched neighbors use hammers and power tools to try to cut through slabs of concrete in a building reduced to a mountain of debris. She was wracked with anxiety as she waited to see if her siblings, nephews, nieces and friends would emerge alive.
“My God, how are we going to get them out of there?” Jimenez murmured.
“We’re making a call for help to the government and countries across the world,” she said, pleading for machinery capable of moving collapsed structures. “There are still people alive in there.”
Government forces distributed food and water to survivors in La Guaira, and acting President Delcy Rodríguez said her government was mounting a full response during these “critical hours for rescuing people alive.”
She welcomed the arrival of international rescuers and humanitarian aid. She said La Guaira had been militarized and more help was on the way, even as residents said it was just a fraction of what they needed.
The disaster poses a huge challenge for Rodríguez, the former vice president who took office in January after the capture and removal of then President Nicolás Maduro by the United States. Venezuela has been facing economic disarray for more than a decade, and many people reject the legitimacy of the political movement Rodríguez represents.
A rescue team from Chile arrived at one residential complex in La Guaira made up of four tall buildings housing hundreds of apartments that had largely been reduced to rubble.
Angry chants at president
“Unfortunately, the collapse is total, and there is little chance of finding survivors. Efforts are now focused on recovering the bodies of the deceased,” team leader Nadiomar Polanco said at the site, which resembles many others in the city.
Elsewhere, family members, neighbors and volunteers used their bare hands to try to dig out survivors, bemoaning the lack of heavy machinery or official help to save those trapped alive.
“I am looking for my little Gael … he was only five months old,” said an anguished Marjosly Salazar, 40, whose 16-year-old daughter died in the quake. The baby and Salazar’s cousin are both missing.
“Please, we need support here. We need machinery to start lifting the columns,” she said. “We haven’t seen any government officials here, none at all.”
In an upscale Caracas neighborhood, Rodriguez was greeted with angry chants from a crowd of people whose loved ones were trapped under the debris.
“The government isn’t doing anything for the people,” they yelled from behind cordons next to a pulverized building.
The number of dead was expected to climb, and people reported tens of thousands of missing on independent digital databases.
Those figures likely included people who have been incommunicado due to the lack of cell phone signals, and some reports may be duplicates.
The number of injured was more than 3,300 as of midday Friday, and authorities said they rescued 243.
The International Organization for Migration said up to 6.76 million people could be affected, some 2 million of them in Caracas alone. The destruction was amplified by the quick succession of shallow quakes, experts said.
