‘He is in there’

Venezuelan woman digs for missing son with bare hands

Caracas: Amparo del Giudice (1) dug through a mound of concrete with her bare hands in a desperate search for her son, trapped beneath rubble after Venezuela’s strongest quake since 1900. La Guaira was one of the worst-hit regions.

With no government help in sight, del Giudice clawed at the rubble. “It is a lot of rock, and with bare hands it is impossible,” she said.

Her grandson Alessandro, 23, wearing a volunteer firefighter’s helmet, joined the search for his missing father.

“He is in there,” he sobbed, staring at the remains of what was once a building.

AFP witnessed looting as dust hung over luxury beachfront condominiums reduced to piles of metal, glass and concrete. The coastal highway split apart in several places, while many buildings became uninhabitable or were destroyed. Two five-star hotels also collapsed.

Rescuers and volunteers climbed heaps of debris from buildings up to 15 storeys high, calling out the names of the missing as aftershocks rattled damaged structures.

On one battered house, someone had scrawled: “Perez family, alive.”

residents trapped in high-rises, car parks 

Caracas residents (3) were trapped in high-rise apartments and underground car parks as the quake struck. Power failures left families stranded, while others fled damaged buildings after walls cracked, debris fell and lifts stopped working.

WOMAN PULLED FROM RUBBLE ALIVE 

Rescuers pulled Graciela Mo­ra (2) alive from the rubble of a collapsed building in La Guaira. She suffered injuries, including a broken finger, but the friend she had been with died. Mora told AP she held her friend’s hand as they waited for rescuers so she would not have to die alone.

‘MY HEART TELLS ME HE IS ALIVE’

Marianella Cremi waited outside the collapsed Petunia building in Caracas, where her brother Juan Diego and his girlfriend Sabrina Bolognesi remained missing. “My heart tells me my brother is alive,” the 25-year-old said.

Others have been rescued from the rubble, giving the family hope. “Only Juan Diego and Sabrina are still missing,” she said. “We have faith and trust in God that we will find them alive.”

‘CHAOTIC SCENE’

A man visiting La Guaira with his family said they felt “incredibly strong” tremors as they prepared to drive back to Caracas. “There were no first responders anywhere to be seen. All the neighbours were trying to get their loved ones out of the rubble,” he told the BBC. Mobile phone networks failed, leaving him unable to contact his family for hours. He later found they were safe.

FOREIGN NATIONALS AMONG DEAD, MISSING

Foreign nationals are among those reported dead and missing as search efforts continue. Spain’s Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said three Spanish nationals had been confirmed dead and 99 remained missing.

Brazil’s foreign ministry confirmed the deaths of two nationals. Chinese state media said two Chinese nationals had died. Italian media reported the death of an Italian-Venezu­elan, adding it was too early to estimate how many members of Venezuela’s large Italian community were missing.  AFP, citing Portugal’s foreign ministry, said nine Portu­guese nationals had died.

INT’L TEAMS ARRIVE

Spanish rescuers (4) arrived in Venezuela after Swiss teams reached the country earlier on Thursday. Search and rescue teams from Italy, Czechia, France, Germany, Luxemb­ourg, Portugal and the Netherlands are also deploying, European Commi­ssion President Ursula von der Leyen said. The UK Foreign Office said its Search and Rescue team stood ready for deployment.

–FPJ World Desk