On a large and unstable mountain of concrete, iron and dust in La Guaira, dozens of people remove debris, hoping to find survivors or bodies. Suddenly everything stops. A rescuer thinks he can hear a voice under the rubble. “Oh my God, thank you,” cries a woman. “Really?” asks another, incredulous. The message – “Shhh… silence, please” – is repeated in a chain as people hold their breath. For 10 minutes, time seems to stand still. No sound comes from the rubble and the professionals declare a false alarm. Faces change dramatically.
Across Venezuela, the twin earthquakes that struck last Wednesday have left 1,719 people confirmed dead, more than 5,000 injured and 45,000 still missing, according to officials. A 21-year-old man was pulled out on Monday morning after being trapped for more than 100 hours. Aid is continuing to arrive from around the world, but there is growing public anger at the government’s response to the disaster.
“Rescuers in La Guaira listen for survivors as 45,000 remain missing after Venezuela’s twin earthquakes.”
Ronnie Navarro arrived on Saturday from Puerto La Cruz, about 350km from La Guaira, to help pull his uncle from the rubble. Visibly exhausted, he looks at his companions who continue to remove debris. “There are bodies there, trapped. The relatives of those who lived there are helping because the government doesn’t want to help,” he says. “The authorities say nothing. They pass by, take a quick look, and leave. Since they don’t have relatives there…” There is still no news of his uncle. “They haven’t pulled him out,” he says, his voice breaking.
Neighbours have alerted nearby professional teams. They arrive within minutes, but just as quickly leave again. Zuly Marín, a 66-year-old biologist, has lived in the Mariola and Maribel Residence complex, where of two towers only one is still standing, leaning and looking as though it could collapse at any moment. The other seems to have been swallowed by the earth. The hope many felt just minutes earlier quickly gives way to frustration. And the frustration – here and throughout La Guaira – begins to turn into anger.