“The government is doing nothing for the people!“Screams a Venezuelan to the president of the country in front of a 22-story tower that fell apart in rubble in the earthquakes. Relatives and volunteers search as best they can to find survivors, while complaints grow about the lack of government support in rescues.
Three days after the two earthquakes that in less than a minute left at least almost a thousand dead and more than 50,000 missing in the north of Venezuelathe anger and helplessness of Venezuelans is palpable.
LOOK HERE: The double earthquake in Venezuela leaves almost 1,000 dead and more than 50,000 missing
In La Guairaa spa 40 km from Caracas and one of the areas most affected by the earthquakes, the neighbors were digging through the rubble to rescue Danaa nine-year-old girl buried under rubble for more than 18 hours, asking for help. His mother was crying inconsolably.
“Since last night trying to get the girl out and you can hear it there” his voice, he told AFP Dani Rizo48 years old, one of the neighbors who participated in the rescue efforts. Official help never arrived.
“is dead“, he said hours later, immersed in sadness, with the girl’s body still buried in one of the dozens of collapsed homes in Catia la Marin the state of La Guaira.
Venezuelans are asking for more speed in the deployment of relief brigades and machinery to remove heavy concrete blocks. They assure that they need electric generators, grinders to cut metals and backhoes to extract debris.
“There is a space where there is a girl who answers me and her name is Jennifer, from the 11th floor. However, we have no tools, we have no way to help,” he told AFP. Antonio Bermudez45 years old, another resident of La Guaira.
“A few meters away, there in the area, are two brothers“, account. “One of them responds and says that he is wounded in the stomach. There is his father and his blood brother trying to remove the plates, they are very thick. The only thing we have is a pickaxe and a mandarria (…) We can’t do anything anymore“.
Since Wednesday’s earthquakes, thousands of volunteers have been working on their own in rescues without coordination from authorities.
one of them is Sunday Pacheco. “It is a very critical situation because there is a lack of help in machinery and human resources.”said this 52-year-old volunteer lifeguard with more than three decades of experience.
Furious, family members and survivors of the largest earthquake in Venezuela since 1900 threaten to block streets to attract the attention of the authorities.
MORE INFORMATION: “The Venezuelan does not give up”: testimonies of fear and resilience after devastating earthquakes
One of them, Marlon Ochoasearches on his own for his mother, his wife and his son. They were buried when the building where they lived collapsed in Big Beacha middle class area in La Guaira.
There, huge residential buildings and a five-star hotel overlooking the sea collapsed resoundingly after the earthquakes.
A woman cried inconsolably when she saw the 10-story building where her sister lived reduced to piles of packed walls.
“I still don’t see the authorities as such taking charge of the situation here in this area… Here we need things, machinery, power plants, everything,” claimed Ochoa. “We are angry, we need help, there are people alive».
Jean Alexander Capoteone of the thousands of victims who lost his mother-in-law in the tragedy, cried out through tears for help to find his stepdaughter among the more than 50,000 missing people left by the powerful earthquakes.
“I can’t get it… We want help soon, as quickly as possible, help us“He demanded when questioning the government’s slowness.
The president Delcy Rodriguez However, he congratulated himself on his government’s work in the face of the damage left by the earthquakes and thanked the arrival of more than 800 international volunteers who have already begun working in the country.
He also ordered the militarization of La Guaira, but the presence of the uniformed personnel is still barely visible in this favorite beach resort of Caracas.
ALSO SEE: Delcy Rodríguez says that the priority now is to rescue the people still trapped
Relatives and neighbors of people trapped in a collapsed 22-story building in the neighborhood of Altamiraa wealthy area of Caracas, was booed on Friday during a visit to the area of the accident.
“Out, out!“They shouted at him.”It’s already good to do a political campaign in a tragedy like the one we are experiencing! (…) The government is not doing anything for the people!“.
The Venezuelan government restricted access to La Guaira on Friday night, arguing that the massive arrival of volunteers hinders search and rescue efforts.
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