A bloody-faced Daniel Cordero emerged from the rubble of a fallen building in Catia La Mar, Venezuela, surrounded by rescue workers who helped him onto a stretcher as bystanders filmed the scene.
Three days after two earthquakes slammed Venezuela, Cordero’s rescue, which came Friday, and that of others are providing a jolt of optimism for those still hoping to find their loved ones among the ruins.
It comes as the death toll rises from Wednesday’s 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes and as many families confirm that mothers, fathers, siblings and children did not survive. At least 1,430 people have died, government officials said Saturday, a number that is expected to continue to grow. Thousands are injured and tens of thousands have been reported missing.
The frantic searching continued Saturday — mostly by civilians, with a growing number of international rescue teams joining in the efforts. Aid agencies consider the first 48 to 72 hours as crucial for retrieving people alive, though that can be extended if they have access to food and water.
‘We have seen way too much’
As neighbors, friends and relatives worked under the scorching sun, some of their efforts were met with applause. A 4-year-old was saved. An elderly man with a black eye was greeted with applause after his rescue.
But not all were so lucky.
Daritza Polo, in La Guaira, received confirmation Friday her mother died in the quake.
“I have no words,” she said.
Misery has been abundant across La Guaira, among the areas hardest hit by the devastating earthquakes.
Brother and sister Leyder Rojas and Leymar Rojas, 3 and 10, were pulled from the rubble wrapped in a sheet. Their mother cried out in anguish. As two other women tried to steady her, she fainted. The rescue continued as she lay on the ground.
“It’s horrible, we have seen way too much,” said the children’s uncle, Ramón Eduardo, fighting back tears. “We got one alive, thank God,” he said, referring to their 4-year-old brother Adrián.
“But not all of them, we could not get them.”
Keeping hope as the search continues
For many, no news is good news.
The building in La Guaira where Noribel Mendoza lived with her two sons, Andrés David Molina Mendoza, 21, and Ángel Eduardo Molina Mendoza, 19, collapsed on Wednesday, and the family hasn’t heard from them since.
“We don’t know if they were there, they weren’t there, if they’re in the hospital or a clinic, still nothing,” said the boys’ aunt Ángela Molina Castro, 30, by phone from Puerto Píritu in Anzoátegui State.
Another one of their aunts has been outside the building hoping for news, Molina Castro said, but said no rescue teams have come. Neighbors and friends have been trying to lift the debris, but sometimes it’s too heavy.
On Friday, a friend and his pregnant wife were confirmed dead. She hopes the news of her nephews is not the same.
“Even if they are not family, friends or acquaintances, they are still human beings like us,” she said, referring to all the victims. “It’s a tragedy that I’m living for the first time in my life.”
Flor María González has been waiting since Wednesday for updates on her daughter, Dilinyer Caroley Rada González, 33, and her three grandkids — Jonas, 10, Ashley, 8, and Angely, 6 — whose apartment building in La Guaira collapsed.
González had just returned to the western city of Maracaibo after visiting her two daughters near Caracas when she heard about the earthquake.
She has watched from afar as neighbors and rescue crews search for survivors.
Her other daughter is waiting outside Rada González’s building in the hopes that she and the kids will be among those rescued from the rubble.
“We still have faith,” González said.
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Brigida reported from Mexico City. Clara Preve in Buenos Aires contributed to this report.
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