The emergency cemetery where Venezuela buries earthquake victims

The death toll in Venezuela surpassed 3,500
The two earthquakes that hit northern Venezuela on June 24th left a trail of destruction the likes of which had not been seen in the country for more than a century.
✅ Follow the g1 international news channel on WhatsApp
To date, the death toll has exceeded 3,500. Of this total, almost 300 bodies have not yet been identified.
Given the situation, the Venezuelan authorities needed to create an emergency cemetery, located about an hour's drive from La Guaira, the region most affected by the tremors.
The emergency cemetery was built in an area away from the La Esperanza cemetery.
The long rows of white crosses, intended to mark the graves of the earthquake victims, spread across the top of a hill in this mountainous region, portraying the scale of the tragedy that keeps Venezuela from mourning.
Trucks loaded with the bodies of the earthquake victims continually arrive there.
Aerial view of the coffins on the day of the burial of the earthquake victims, after the tremors of June 24, at the La Esperanza Cemetery, in La Guaira, Venezuela
REUTERS/Adriano Machado
The backhoes opened a wide area to receive the bodies that were rescued from the rubble.
The heavy machinery has been working for longer of 10 days digging the graves.
"We started this work, which has been done with dedication and love, together with a team of volunteers and people who really committed themselves because it came from them and because they know the situation we are in", community leader Elis Zabala explained to BBC Mundo.
The authorities claim that it is not a mass grave and that each burial is carried out individually.
The victims' families are not present to say the last goodbye, as only a few workers and employees are authorized to remain at the burial site.
Workers prepare graves on the day of the burial of earthquake victims, following the tremors of June 24, at La Esperanza Cemetery, in La Guaira, Venezuela
REUTERS/Adriano Machado
Each grave has a cross, white stones and an identification code that allows the body to be linked to a record and the corresponding photographic archive.
However, unfortunately, many of the Bodies have not yet been identified.
One of the main criticisms made in the days after the earthquakes hit Venezuela was the lack of official rescue teams to locate the bodies of people reported missing.
To the 3,500 deaths confirmed to date, there are thousands of missing people in what is considered the country's worst natural catastrophe in recent decades.
READ ALSO
150 people are buried without identification in Venezuela
Former commander is convicted of sinking Argentine submarine that imploded at sea and killed 44 crew members
Trump decides to remove Syria from the US list of countries sponsoring terrorism
Workers carry the coffin of an earthquake victim at La Esperanza Cemetery in La Guaira, Venezuela
REUTERS/Adriano Machado
VIDEOS: now on g1
Now on g1

Source: G1