There is no end to the pain and sorrow in her ruins. But there are also those glimmers of hope when rescuers and ordinary citizens searching through the rubble find someone alive.
This is also the case of 21-year-old Aaron Levi Cadillo Varga who managed to survive under the debris in the city of Carabayeda for almost five days (106 hours). His 43-hour rescue operation was difficult as efforts to retrieve him were hampered by a body lying between the rescuers and Aaron.
The 21-year-old, as President Naguib Bukele said, is now receiving specialized care and added that rescuers will “continue to work in the hope of being able to save more lives.”
After intense hours of joint work, Aaron Levi Cantillo Vargas, 21 years old, has been rescued alive from the OPP 25 building, in the Tanaguarena sector, Caraballeda parish, La Guaira state.
This rescue was possible thanks to the coordinated efforts of the…
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele)
They are now hoping for miracles
The confirmed dead have now reached at least 1,450, but estimates show that this tragic toll will rise even further. At the same time, hospital walls are suffocating with photos of missing people as their relatives desperately search for a sign of life.
and now the rescue crews hope only for miracles.
Locals with crowbars and picks are searching for the living
The improvised nature of much of the search and rescue operation is evident in the kind of tools people use.
Men and women, armed with minimal tools – crowbars and picks – and no other safety equipment than a bicycle helmet, try to dig through the wreckage to pull out their loved ones and their neighbors.
On the contrary, of course, international rescue teams have the necessary equipment, from flashlights and trained dogs to stretchers and medical supplies. Venezuelan firefighters and emergency services may be underfunded, but they are still able to contribute far more equipment, expertise and support to the search than desperate ordinary citizens.
Earthmoving machines are used throughout La Guaira and other affected areas, but their deployment is patchy and sporadic. People work alone for days on a single building and the heavy machinery finally arrives when it is too late.
But in reality, what is missing is more manpower, more machinery, more sniffer dogs, more support. And of course, the one thing no one can offer them: more time.
