‘I can only describe it as a war zone’: the rescuers navigating Venezuela’s post-quake hellscape

Twin earthquakes tore through Venezuela's northern coast last week, triggering a desperate rescue operation across the region. According to The Guardian, La Guaira, the coastal state hardest hit by the disaster, has mobilized thousands of volunteers alongside international rescue teams to search through collapsed buildings for survivors. A twelve-story beachside apartment block was reduced to rubble, trapping residents including at least three children inside. The catastrophe has inspired ordinary Venezuelans to join the effort: a twenty-four-year-old mechanic and photographer named Israel Rivas sacrificed his savings intended for camera equipment to travel twelve hours from San Félix to the disaster zone. Speaking a week after the earthquakes, Rivas described his decision to help: 'I couldn't eat well. I couldn't sleep well, knowing that my brothers and sisters from this country are dying.' Rescuers on the ground describe the scene as a war zone, with international teams continuing operations to locate more survivors among the wreckage.

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