Destruction and overwhelm: Venezuela’s earthquakes in the words of localspublished at 08:02 BST
08:02 BST
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Andrea, wife of footballer Héctor Bello. She died saving her child, Bello says
It has been a harrowing few days for many across Venezuela as they grapple with loss following deadly earthquakes. Here’s how they describe what they’re going through:
“I’ll tell her the story of how you saved her, my love – how you gave your own life for our daughter,” footballer Héctor Bello writes on his Instagram.
He is writing about his wife who died in the earthquake, named as Andrea by Venezuelan news outlets.
Bello says she saved the life of their young daughter, dying in the process during two powerful quakes.
One woman cries as she shows photos of her two daughters, who were in a shopping centre which lies in rubble next to her.
The women, aged 22 and 23, worked at the shopping centre and are now missing, she says. “I just want them back with me, they are all I have, please.”
“I thought I was going to die,” Verónica told BBC Mundo. She was at home celebrating a national holiday when the quakes hit and says she thought her apartment walls would bury her.
It’s taking a toll on emergency crews, too. “Rescue workers are overwhelmed. They are pulling people out with their bare hands,” student Antoan Marín told BBC News Mundo from Caracas.