Nearly 24 hours after devastating twin earthquakes struck Venezuela, desperate residents in the coastal city of La Guaira were still digging through collapsed buildings with their bare hands on Thursday, searching for neighbors believed to be trapped beneath mountains of concrete as emergency crews raced against time.
The destruction left much of the city in ruins after Wednesday’s powerful earthquakes, while rescue operations were hampered by a shortage of heavy machinery needed to remove debris from collapsed apartment blocks.
“We are trying to help with what we can, but there is a lack of equipment,” Carlos Borges told Reuters as volunteers worked through piles of shattered concrete that once formed multistory residential buildings. He said the absence of excavators and backhoes was slowing efforts to reach survivors.
Borges said his team managed to rescue three people from one collapsed building. Nearby, anxious relatives waited for news of missing loved ones, including the mother of a teenage boy who had not yet been located.
Authorities fear the eventual death toll could rise dramatically. Predictive models released by the U.S. Geological Survey suggested fatalities could exceed 10,000 following the twin earthquakes that struck western Venezuela and the Caracas metropolitan region. The government of acting President Delcy Rodriguez has so far confirmed nearly 200 deaths and 1,520 injuries.
La Guaira, a densely populated coastal city west of Caracas, suffered some of the worst destruction, alongside the inland town of Moron near the earthquakes’ epicenter. Residents in both communities continued rescue operations with limited official assistance during the first full day after the disaster.
“Is it not possible to call in the military? Everyone come, come and pitch in. Put them in an armored vehicle and come help the people. Find tractors wherever you can,” said Argenis Martinez, a resident of La Guaira’s Los Corales neighborhood who was searching for a missing relative beneath the rubble.
Overnight, several collapsed structures caught fire despite authorities shutting off domestic gas supplies. Hundreds of frightened residents spent the night outdoors, either because their homes had been destroyed or because they feared powerful aftershocks could bring down damaged buildings.
The Venezuelan government said approximately 250 buildings had either collapsed or suffered major structural damage, most of them in La Guaira. Officials said international assistance from Spain, the United States, Mexico and Qatar was being mobilized while also urging private companies to provide heavy construction equipment to accelerate rescue operations.
Elsewhere in La Guaira, residents pulled two bodies, including that of a young girl, from the remains of a destroyed home. Volunteers at another site rescued an injured mother and her two children after they had been trapped inside a collapsed apartment building.
Reuters witnesses also observed members of colectivos — motorcycle groups aligned with Venezuela’s ruling party that have previously been accused of attacking anti-government demonstrators — assisting rescue operations at one disaster site.
“My building is uninhabitable and now I have nothing. It’s just me and my son, and I have no family in the country,” said Suhayl Sarquiz, 50, who recently lost her job and now faces homelessness following the earthquake.
Humanitarian conditions continued to deteriorate Thursday as residents searched for food and drinking water. Reuters journalists witnessed looting at two commercial stores as supplies became increasingly scarce.
Medical facilities across the disaster zone were struggling to handle the growing number of casualties. At Jose Maria Vargas Hospital in La Guaira, injured patients were being treated both inside the overcrowded building and outside its entrance while police restricted public access. Hospital officials declined to provide information to reporters.
“It’s a tragedy,” said Beatriz Rodriguez, 60, whose nephew underwent the amputation of both legs after being crushed beneath debris. Another nephew, a 6-year-old boy, was killed in the disaster.
Venezuela’s armed forces announced they were deploying mobile field hospitals to La Guaira capable of performing emergency surgeries. Reuters journalists observed military convoys arriving near the city’s stadium carrying medical equipment and humanitarian supplies.
Healthcare facilities farther inland also faced severe shortages.
Working through an emergency shift that had already stretched beyond 24 hours, Dr. Augusto Ramirez described increasingly difficult conditions at Moron’s modest hospital.
“We need blood pressure monitors, gauze, thermometers, gloves, plaster, painkillers — everything,” Ramirez told Reuters.
He said he and two fellow physicians, together with hospital staff, had treated 112 patients since the earthquakes struck. Nine people, including three children, had died from severe injuries such as skull fractures while electricity and running water remained unavailable throughout much of the town.
With rescue teams continuing to search unstable structures and hospitals struggling to treat the injured, authorities warned that the humanitarian crisis could deepen significantly as hopes of finding additional survivors diminished with each passing hour.
