{"id":522103,"date":"2026-06-28T03:21:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T03:21:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/522103\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T03:21:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T03:21:14","slug":"theyve-abandoned-us-anger-as-race-to-find-survivors-in-venezuela-earthquake-runs-out-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/522103\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018They\u2019ve abandoned us\u2019: Anger as race to find survivors in Venezuela earthquake runs out \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Close to the rubble of what used to be an eight-storey apartment complex on the northern coast of Venezuela<\/a>, relatives and loved ones of the missing wait, hope and pray.<\/p>\n

Every so often, rescue efforts are punctuated by calls for silence as volunteers listen out for any noise from under the mass of concrete, wire and dust.<\/p>\n

Volunteers periodically relay updates, sometimes with descriptions of tattoos, clothing or personal effects recovered from the debris.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes anyone have a family member with colourful stars on their arm?\u201d says one.<\/p>\n

A few minutes later: \u201cThis is the mobile phone of a woman with straight black hair. Does anyone know who she might be?\u201d<\/p>\n

With every hour that passes, the hope of finding survivors fades \u2013 but the stories of those who managed to escape bring renewed belief for some.<\/p>\n

\"AA collapsed building in Caraballeda, on the northern coast of Venezuela. Photograph: Miguel Medina\/Pool\/AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n

Michelle Morgana, who lived on the sixth floor of the Ilona apartment complex in the town of Caraballeda, somehow managed to walk away from the rubble with only minor injuries.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt like we were being lifted into the air,\u201d she said. \u201cThe lower floors disappeared.\u201d <\/p>\n

She and her husband descended using tied bedsheets, landing on mattresses placed below. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a miracle,\u201d she said, adding that she had moved into the apartment only 10 days earlier.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Venezuela earthquake: \u2018The mood was relaxed … then everything started to shake\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The sheer scale of the disaster is slowly beginning to emerge. On Saturday, the official death toll was announced at 1,430, but tens of thousands are still reported missing. In the worst-affected region of La Guaira state, about 40km north of the capital Caracas, satellite images show large swathes of flattened buildings. Video clips on social media show dozens upon dozens of bodies piled in groups outside a collapsed apartment complex in the area, while health services are struggling to cope with the volume of injured.<\/p>\n

In a nearby building in El Palmar del Oeste, a group led by pastor Marianella Torres de Montilla have brought food, water and basic supplies. They travelled overnight from Maracay, some 146km away. Road damage and congestion delayed their arrival.<\/p>\n

\"PeoplePeople receive donations in Caraballeda, La Guaira state, Venezuela. Photograph: Miguel Medina\/AFP\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

\u201cWe tried to help with rescues,\u201d she said. \u201cThe first people we reached were already dead.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same site, volunteers using hand tools managed to extract a woman alive from the ruins on Friday. She was taken away by ambulance. <\/p>\n

Elsewhere, frustration is growing among relatives over the perceived lack of co-ordination. While military personnel and heavy machinery are present at a limited number of sites, such support was absent at most locations. Antony Garc\u00eda, waiting for news of his brother, says official help has been far too slow arriving.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve abandoned us,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s no assistance and hardly any officials.\u201d<\/p>\n

When a rescue crew eventually arrived, he says they ordered volunteers to leave, even though there had been sounds coming from under the rubble.<\/p>\n

\"VolunteersVolunteers searchthrough the rubble in a collapsed building in Caraballeda, La Guaira state. Photograph: Federico Parra\/AFP\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

He said his family had earlier rescued his mother from the debris, but she later died after being transferred to a medical facility. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe needed oxygen,\u201d said Garc\u00eda. \u201cThey said she was stable, but she went into cardiac arrest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Across Caraballeda, buildings lean precariously or are pancaked entirely, creating an uneven skyline along the coast. La Guaira state \u2013 which stretches for roughly 170km along the Caribbean \u2013 has reported widespread damage to housing and infrastructure, including the international airport. <\/p>\n

Venezuela\u2019s government said on Saturday that 1,600 members of foreign rescue teams had arrived to help search for survivors. \u201cIn recent hours, Venezuela has received 17 flights carrying more than 1,600 members of rescue \u200bteams, and over the next 24 hours the arrival of 25 additional flights is expected,\u201d said foreign ministry official Oliver Blanco.<\/p>\n

For the families of loved ones still trapped under the rubble, the help cannot come quickly enough.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Close to the rubble of what used to be an eight-storey apartment complex on the northern coast of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":522104,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39,92549],"class_list":["post-522103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-venezuela"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522103\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/522104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}