'Life stopped': Venezuelans dig through rubble two weeks after earthquake

A woman stands on the rubble of a collapsed building in Caraballeda, La Guaira state, Venezuela, on July 9, 2026
RAUL ARBOLEDA / AFP
Venezuelan Ciro Ocando stops when he receives an album with photos of his children from a man coming out of an open tunnel among the rubble. "I'm in the right place, but there are many obstacles", he says, after looking at the photos for a few seconds and resuming work.
He digs tirelessly to find his two teenage children, who he assumes are buried under the rubble of one of the destroyed buildings in Playa Grande, state of La Guaira, the hardest hit by the double earthquake of June 24 in Venezuela, which left more than 3,800 dead and thousands missing.
"Life stopped here two weeks ago", he tells AFP.
Ocando and his brothers arrived at the site after the earthquakes and never left. At first, they hoped that the 13 and 18 year olds, as well as their aunt, would be rescued alive, but now they just want to recover their bodies.
The family set up a temporary camp in front of the ruins. Next door, an overflowing garbage container attracts a legion of flies that then land on your mattresses or on your clothes drying under the relentless sun.
You're not alone. Dozens of family members of the missing fear that the machines will drag away the rubble and will never be able to recover the bodies of their loved ones.
Many, like Ocando, continue digging even after the rescue teams have left, driven by desperation.
"This lighting device, the generator, the tools, everything is on me, I'm the one who bought everything", highlights Ocando, while some men continue to remove rubble from the small tunnel.
After more After a week of effort, on Wednesday they managed to reach the apartment where the two teenagers lived with their aunt. The photo album they just found is proof.
Inside, nine people try to find them. Above, others drill from other angles, also trying to find their own, clinging to the possibility of a miracle.
A Venezuelan flag flutters amid the rubble of a building that collapsed in Caraballeda, state of La Guaira, Venezuela, on July 9, 2026, after the earthquakes of June 24.
RAUL ARBOLEDA / AFP
'They ended the people'
Damián Molero, Ocando's brother, recognizes that they risk their lives by challenging the insides of a mass of concrete in ruins.
"But for us, the family members, it's worth taking the risk, they (the government) just want to demolish it", he says, saying he is "powerless, angry, desperate".
"The National Guard and the Army came with new shovels to carry out simulations (...) We knew that there would be no response here, there was no support here", he denounces, pointing to what remains of a popular housing complex designed by the governments of Hugo Chávez and his successor, the deposed Nicolás Maduro.
Workers carry tools as they walk among the rubble of collapsed buildings in Caraballeda, La Guaira state, Venezuela, on July 9, 2026
RAUL ARBOLEDA / AFP
Lázaro Cardozo, who is looking for Fabiana, his daughter's cousin, holds these governments and the current interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, who took power in January after Maduro's fall, accountable.
"I call on what is called government in this country to speed up. There is so much money, Venezuela is a millionaire", emphasizes this 67-year-old man, who carries posters with photos of his family members, before collapsing in tears.
Cardozo is convinced that these buildings, designed to house the Venezuelan popular class, collapsed because they were built negligently. your legs and then they give you the cane, so that you can be grateful for the cane (...) They devastated us, they finished us off", he continues.
Workers remove rubble from collapsed buildings in Caraballeda, state of La Guaira, Venezuela, on July 9, 2026, after the earthquakes of June 24.
RAUL ARBOLEDA / AFP
For Cardozo, the clock stopped when, As of 6:04 pm local time on June 24, earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 were felt consecutively.
"I'm in shock, paralyzed," he comments, and reaffirms his "commitment" to finding Fabiana: "We're not going to leave her here."
A few meters away, Ocando continued digging.
In Caraballeda, state of La Guaira, Venezuela, on July 9, 2026, people await news from relatives believed to be trapped under rubble after the June 24 earthquakes.
RAUL ARBOLEDA / AFP

Source: G1