{"id":515542,"date":"2026-06-28T19:59:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T19:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/515542\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T19:59:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T19:59:11","slug":"mortuary-in-caracas-overwhelmed-as-venezuela-struggles-to-respond-after-earthquakes-venezuela","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/515542\/","title":{"rendered":"Mortuary in Caracas \u2018overwhelmed\u2019 as Venezuela struggles to respond after earthquakes | Venezuela"},"content":{"rendered":"

\ufeffThe bodies turn up on motorcycles, in the backs of cars or the load beds of pickup trucks: victims of a natural disaster<\/a> that has shaken an already fragile nation to its core.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Yesterday], the entire street was packed with people arriving with deceased relatives,\u201d said Camila Rodr\u00edguez, a psychology student who is offering emotional support to grieving families at the Bello Monte mortuary in Venezuela\u2019s capital, Caracas.<\/p>\n

At least 1,430 lives were lost when back-to-back earthquakes rattled the country\u2019s Caribbean coast last Wednesday, toppling hundreds of buildings and leaving tens of thousands missing. Many of those fatal victims have ended up at Bello Monte, as have relatives of the dead, who gather there hoping to identify their loved ones.<\/p>\n

One of those waiting outside the pastel yellow facility was Marjorie Cede\u00f1o, who lost her mother, father and brother to Venezuela\u2019s worst earthquake event in more than 125 years. The trio were trapped beneath the rubble when their four-floor building, Residencias Obelisco<\/a>, collapsed in Los Palos Grandes, an upmarket neighbourhood at the foot of the El \u00c1vila mountain.<\/p>\n

By 9pm on Friday, Cede\u00f1o had only managed to identify her brother, Jos\u00e9 Ruiz, 44, through a photograph shown to her by forensic police. Her mother, Zoila Cede\u00f1o, 72, who worked as the building\u2019s superintendent, and her father, Jacinto Ruiz, 74, remain buried beneath the debris.<\/p>\n

\"AerialAerial footage shows scale of destruction after deadly earthquakes in Venezuela \u2013 video<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the earthquake started, my brother was just entering the building. We believe his instinct was to go inside and rescue my parents, who were still there. He had just come back from the beach with a friend, who also died,\u201d said Cede\u00f1o, who believed another 25 people remained trapped in the building\u2019s ruins.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s horrible in there,\u201d she said of the mortuary. \u201cYou can\u2019t imagine how overwhelmed it is \u2026 This is something you wouldn\u2019t wish on anyone. It\u2019s an unimaginable tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another woman, Belkis Cede\u00f1o, no relation, had come to the swamped facility hoping to find her sister-in-law, 56-year-old Mar\u00eda Elena Moreno, who had been a resident of La Guiara, the coastal region worst affected by the quakes.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir building was completely destroyed. A 10-storey building was reduced to the ground floor. They managed to pull her out early this morning. She was alone because her son had gone to the supermarket with his girlfriend,\u201d Cede\u00f1o said.<\/p>\n

Cede\u00f1o said she had heard that her relative was rescued alive at about 2am on Thursday. But a false tsunami alert that spread across social media triggered panic and she was left exposed outside. \u201cWhen they finally transferred her to the hospital, she arrived dead,\u201d Cede\u00f1o said.<\/p>\n

Edgar Hern\u00e1ndez, the former president of Venezuela\u2019s National Funeral Homes Association, said undertakers across the country had donated more than 200 coffins, body bags and other supplies, while supporting colleagues responding to the disaster. \u201cMany people have recovered bodies and transported them in their private vehicles to Bello Monte because it\u2019s less congested and easier to access than the \u2026 mortuary [in La Guaira], which has completely collapsed under the pressure of the emergency.\u201d<\/p>\n

People searching through missing persons lists in Caracas. Photograph: Javier Campos\/AP<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Venezuela\u2019s acting leader, Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, tried to comfort shell-shocked citizens. \u201cToday we have managed to save 33 people who were still alive and I want to thank you,\u201d she told a group of foreign rescue workers during a televised broadcast.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery life means hope for Venezuela,\u201d Rodr\u00edguez later tweeted, announcing that an 11-year-old boy had been found alive in the town of Caraballeda, along the devastated northern coast.<\/p>\n

Venezuela\u2019s communications ministry has also sought to project an image of unity and diligence in the face of the tragedy, posting social media videos of government rescue teams using sledgehammers and stretchers to pluck dust-caked survivors from the rubble.<\/p>\n

But on the streets, there is growing anger at what many perceive as the sluggish response of a government unprepared for a crisis of this scale, and the way many feel they were abandoned to their own fate in the hours after disaster struck.<\/p>\n

Rodr\u00edguez was heckled<\/a> by frustrated locals while touring one badly hit part of the capital. \u201cThe government isn\u2019t doing anything for the people!\u201d shouted one critic.<\/p>\n

Outside the mortuary, the relentless work of volunteers offering water, coffee and trauma counselling contrasted with the lethargic official reaction, which experts blame on years of underinvestment in emergency services, as well as the sheer scale of the natural disaster.<\/p>\n

Similar scenes could be seen all across the traumatised city, as tents, mattresses and food were delivered to hundreds\u200b of families sleeping out on the streets because they were too frightened to return home, many with young children. If there is one thing not lacking in Caracas, it is the food provided by volunteers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thank God because Venezuelans have such enormous hearts \u2026 The people have been extraordinary,\u201d Marjorie Cede\u00f1o said as she waited for news of her parents.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere may be no government response,\u201d she added. \u201cBut there are so many good people helping.\u201d<\/p>\n