Published: June 26, 2026 at 6:50 PM
Updated: June 26, 2026 at 6:59 PM
Venezuelans hoping for survivors under earthquakes’ rubble say search-and-rescue tools are needed
DORAL, Fla. — Andrea Brito was among the donors and volunteers who worked hard on Friday despite their pain after the devastating 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes struck Venezuela.
Brito, who was doing her part to push a flow of aid from South Florida to the disaster zone, couldn’t stop thinking about her uncle Roberto Brito and aunt Kairol Piñero, who vanished on Wednesday in La Guaira.
Brito, who had a flyer with pictures of them and Norelys Marrero, hopes they may still be alive and waiting for help under the rubble. Volunteers were searching, but they lacked machinery and tools.
“We are trying to find resources to help lift the concrete that collapsed on top of them,” said Brito at El Arepazo in Doral.
MISSING AFTER EARTHQUAKE: On Friday, in Doral, Andrea Brito holds a flyer with pictures of her uncle Roberto Brito and aunt Kairol Piñero, and Norelys Marrero, who vanished on Wednesday in Venezuela’s state of La Guaira.
The Venezuelan restaurant, open 24 hours, seven days a week, at the Chevron gas station, at 10191 NW 58th St., was among the drop-off locations collecting aid for the local nonprofit Global Empowerment Mission.
“I haven’t stopped crying since the earthquake,” said Susanna Taddei, a Venezuelan-American LGBTQ+ rights activist who was dropping off aid at El Arepazo.
Taddei said the civilians, who were trying to rescue survivors from the rubble, were in desperate need of equipment, tools, and parts such as grinding wheels to cut through metal.
Related list: Drop-off locations in South Florida
More HELPING VENEZUELA coverage
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Roy Ramos
Andrea Torres