Rescue workers in Venezuela continue searching for survivors after twin earthquakes devastated parts of the country, killing at least 1,700 people and leaving countless others trapped beneath collapsed buildings. However, many residents and grieving families say the government’s response has been too slow, with precious time lost during the critical early hours after the disaster.
In the coastal city of La Guaira, one of the areas worst affected by the earthquakes, rescue teams periodically halt operations and call for complete silence. Workers stop digging, vehicles come to a standstill, and bystanders hold their breath as rescuers listen for signs of life beneath the ruins of a collapsed 12-storey building.
The structure, which once stood beside a busy road, now lies in ruins and has become a symbol of both the tragedy and the desperation of families still hoping their loved ones may be alive.
Among those waiting outside the site is Miguel Oscar Nunez, whose 34-year-old son, Angel, lived in the building. Each pause in the rescue operation brings a moment of hope that survivors might be found.
“My son, like hundreds of others, is trapped under the rubble,” Miguel said. “It’s possible that the earthquake did not kill him, but imagine if he dies because of the negligence of the authorities.”
Interim President Delcy Rodríguez has described the earthquakes as the most devastating natural disaster in Venezuela’s history.
Many residents have criticised the response of emergency services, arguing that official rescue operations were launched too late. Kevin Montilla, whose wife Luzmary and 16-year-old daughter Jhoerliyzmar were inside the same building when the earthquake struck, said local residents were the first to respond.
“The rescue operation started very late and has been slow,” he said. “Initially, it was only people from the community who came to help. The government’s response has been frustrating and ineffective.”
When rescue teams eventually arrived, they included emergency workers from Venezuela and neighbouring countries, supported by heavy machinery such as cranes and excavators. But families waiting near the ruins believe valuable time had already been lost.
Elsewhere in La Guaira, the situation appears even more desperate. Some communities say rescue teams have yet to reach their neighbourhoods, leaving residents to conduct searches on their own.
At a local hospital, Deilisbeth Herreira searched through lists of the dead and injured in the hope of finding information about her daughters, 12-year-old Greydelys and 13-year-old Graybelys. The single mother was at work when the earthquake struck and fears the girls may have been at home.
“I have help from no one,” she said through tears. “No machines or rescuers have been sent to dig through the rubble. It’s like you’ve been left on your own to find your loved ones.”
Across the region, survivors have echoed similar frustrations. At the collapsed Bello Horizonte apartment complex, volunteers armed with shovels and crowbars searched through debris, while families waited anxiously nearby.
William Rodrigues, who is searching for his uncle, said the smell from the rubble suggested many victims remained trapped beneath it.
“We cannot just stand by when there is still the possibility that people are alive under the rubble,” he said. “Help arrived very late in most places, and in some places it has still not arrived.”
Residents described hearing the cries of trapped survivors in the hours after the earthquakes. Sixty-year-old Juan Avendo and his nephew, Enyer Musics, said they used their bare hands to dig through debris and managed to rescue one woman alive after first passing her a bottle of water.
According to local accounts, the first official rescue teams did not arrive in some areas until nearly two days after the earthquakes struck. International teams from countries including El Salvador and the United States later joined the operations, helping to locate additional survivors before some rescue missions were eventually suspended.
As the search continues, many fear that hundreds of victims remain buried beneath the rubble and that the true scale of the disaster may never be fully known. For families gathered around collapsed buildings across Venezuela, hope persists, but it is increasingly overshadowed by grief, anger and unanswered questions over whether more lives could have been saved with a faster response.
