“I just want to know where my son is”: rescue teams are working against the clock in Venezuela

Hundreds of people were killed in the two consecutive earthquakes that struck Venezuela last Wednesday, thousands are still missing. While the rescue teams are still working in the last hours to rescue the trapped, the hard evidence continues to flow, and the residents of La Guaira, which is located in the north of the country, told the BBC network about the uncertainty and terror.

A Venezuelan citizen documented the destruction in his neighborhood. In the video, a woman is seen lying on the ruins of the building opposite. According to him, “They have not yet come to look for the lady and help her, but she is alive, she is still alive.” He added: “This is a bit of what is left of our neighborhood. There were two towers there before they saw the horizon, it has become nothing. There is complete destruction here.”

“I just want to know where my son is,” cried Diana Delgado, a resident of the disaster-stricken area. Pedro Perez, 64, owner of a furniture upholstery workshop shared with the Reuters news agency that he lost his home and his shop, and was forced to sleep on the street along with his wife and children: “We lost everything. We have no food and medicine. We hope that help will come soon.”

Residents of the district said that whole buildings disappeared as if they were not there – according to estimates, about a hundred buildings collapsed in La Guaira alone. The rescue teams report trapped voices being heard from among the ruins, and the next few hours are fateful. According to estimates, thousands were left without homes, and hundreds were trapped under the rubble, along with many missing people.

In La Guaira, volunteers dug through the rubble with their bare hands as families anxiously await news of their missing loved ones. Along the Caracas-La Guaira road, many civilians were recorded evacuating towards the coast carrying water, food and medicine.

According to reports from the state, the electricity supply is unstable. The international airport in the capital Caracas, which was badly damaged by the earthquake, was shut down. Documentation from the terminal showed great panic in the passenger hall at the time of the noise, as well as the electronic flight schedule that fell to the ground and shattered.

The two earthquakes that hit Venezuela one after the other caused much panic and destruction on the northern coast of Venezuela. The US Geological Service estimates with high probability that the number of dead is expected to range between ten thousand and one hundred thousand.

Rodriguez, the country’s interim president since Maduro’s capture, announced that the death toll from the earthquake had risen to 589 and the number of injured to 2,980. In addition, it was announced that the government had declared a state of emergency following the heavy damage and that the provincial state of La Guaira, where the epicenter was, would be declared a military area. According to her, foreign rescue and rescue teams are on their way to the country.

The first earthquake that hit the country had a magnitude of 7.1 and about forty seconds later the second, even stronger, magnitude of 7.5. The president announced that the Maiketia airport was closed as of this time due to damage caused and offered her condolences to the families of the victims.