‘A nightmare’: Strugging with the aftermath of Venezuela’s earthquakes

play Live Sign upShow navigation menu.css-15ru6p1{font-size:inherit;font-weight:normal;}Navigation menuNewsShow more news sectionsAfricaAsiaUS & CanadaLatin AmericaEuropeAsia PacificWorld CupMiddle EastExplainedOpinionVideoMoreShow more sectionsFeaturesEconomySportHuman RightsClimate CrisisInvestigationsInteractivesIn PicturesScience & TechnologyPodcastsTravelSponsored Contentplay Live Click here to searchsearchSign upVoices from Venezuela: Struggling with the earthquakes' aftermathSome have lost homes. Many have lost loved ones. Now, survivors of Venezuela's earthquakes find themselves sheltering in parks, unsure of what's next. xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogleAdd Al Jazeera on GoogleinfoCaracas, Venezuela – A week after twin earthquakes rocked Venezuela, the country is only beginning to process the tragedy. As of Friday, 2,645 people have been confirmed dead after two consecutive earthquakes struck less than a minute apart on June 24, reaching magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, respectively. Roadways cracked. Buildings toppled. And thousands of lives were changed forever. With as many as 38,500 people missing, the death toll is expected to rise further. The Venezuelan government has reportedly ordered 10,000 bags to store corpses, according to the United Nations. But the search is not over, with international rescue teams fighting their way through mountains of rubble, spurred by the enduring hope of finding survivors. Those rescuers have been joined by local volunteers, armed with hammers, pickaxes and shovels. Many work late into the night. In the coastal city of La Guaira, one of the worst-hit areas, dozens of high-rise apartment blocks lie in ruins. The Caribbean breeze wafts the acrid smell of decomposing corpses through the city, as vultures circle overhead. Residents line the streets, anxiously watching search efforts unfold. Some pray for a miracle. Others hope, at very least, for the opportunity to bury their loved ones. With thousands unable to return to their homes, parks and public squares have become makeshift tent villages. Among the displaced, grief has turned to anger, as some residents accuse the government of constructing shoddy public housing and failing to implement safety standards. They also accuse the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, which has governed the country for more than a quarter century, of building a corrupt system that has failed to provide the basic public services needed to deal with a crisis of this scale. Interim President Delcy Rodriguez has defended the government’s response, denying that it could have acted faster. Survivors spoke with Al Jazeera about their experiences during the tragedy, how they feel about the government's response and how they have coped in the days since. "For me, those were the longest and most traumatic seconds of my life. From where I was standing, I could see the buildings collapsing one after another. The noise was unlike anything I’d ever heard before." "It’s been a very hard blow for all of us, seeing so much death. Our neighbours — practically everyone we knew — died, and every time I pick up the phone, I find out that a longtime client or an acquaintance has died." "I feel like I’m in a nightmare that hasn’t ended. I don’t know what to do; I don’t know where to go." "We’ve had help and support here, and all of that support has come from volunteers, many private companies, and many embassies... We haven’t seen help from the government anywhere here." "Everyone was clinging to each other, hugging each other, because it was so intense that people were getting really distraught. They were crying, screaming, everything." Daylin now waits outside the rubble of her apartment building, hoping her husband will be rescued from its rubble. He had been attending school after work, and she believes he returned home after class. "He told me, 'I have a class; I’ll call you in a bit.' That was at 4:57pm [on the day of the earthquake]. But when there was absolutely no sign of him when it was all over. The signal went out. That’s when I said to myself, ‘Oh no, he hasn’t arrived yet — it’s 6:30, 7:00 — and I know that when the quake happened, he must have been there.’" "We still haven’t found him, and many other people are still missing." "Thank God, we’ve received help from all over the world." Gomez and his son are among those now living in Caracas's Parque del Este, having lost their home. "Thank God, we weren’t in the apartment because we were taking the dogs out. It collapsed. The whole building came crashing down." "The next day, we left. We slept in an abandoned car. And from there, we made our way here, walking little by little. And here they took us in, thank God. They’ve given us clothes, they’ve given us food, and they gave us a tent. And here we are." "The foreign leaders are the ones who are helping. All the countries are helping us in Venezuela. But not this government. Not this government. No. It’s corruption. They keep everything for themselves." "We were right on the beach when it happened, and all the buildings there collapsed. Many people died. It’s a tragedy we never expected to happen." "My son was there during the earthquake, and at night, the memories come back — like he is reliving all of it. I have to calm him down." "We were without power for four days; we were cut off from the outside world. We can’t go back down to La Guaira — first, because of the smell and all the dead bodies down there, and second, because we don’t have water. The power only just came back on." "A lot of resources have come here, but in the end, [government officials] have pocketed them themselves. A lot of aid has been diverted. No matter how much aid we have in Venezuela, we won’t have anything... Everything is for them; nothing is for us." "I felt like I was going to die, because my mum lives in a house and it was shaking back and forth. I said, ‘That’s it, we’re dead.’ But no, thank God, nothing happened." "When we went back to our apartment, we realised that two of our cats were missing. We spent three days looking for them." Luzmilda ultimately found one of her cats, Lia. "We called her name, and she came running, crying, crying, crying... Sadly, we’re still missing one cat." "People have helped us, supported us, given us food, water, personal items." "No one from the government has come here. Never. They never pay any attention to us. Never. Not even when we went through that." "It’s been tough. Transporting patients has been challenging, as has dealing with people who are in shock, especially those with high blood pressure or various medical conditions that have worsened." "Right now, we have many patients whose conditions — such as diabetes and hypertension — have been complicated, but they’re a little more stable than they were in the early days, when the situation was more severe." "So far, a lot of people have brought aid. We’ve needed a lot — mostly medicine." Show moreAbout UsCode of EthicsTerms and ConditionsEU/EEA Regulatory NoticePrivacy PolicyCookie PolicyCookie PreferencesAccessibility StatementSitemapWork for usConnectConnectShow moreContact UsUser Accounts HelpAdvertise with usStay ConnectedNewslettersChannel FinderTV SchedulePodcastsSubmit a TipPaid Partner ContentOur ChannelsOur ChannelsShow moreAl Jazeera ArabicAl Jazeera EnglishAl Jazeera Investigative UnitAl Jazeera MubasherAl Jazeera DocumentaryAl Jazeera BalkansAJ+Our NetworkOur NetworkShow moreAl Jazeera Centre for StudiesAl Jazeera Media InstituteLearn ArabicAl Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human RightsAl Jazeera ForumAl Jazeera Hotel PartnersFollow Al Jazeera English: