A quest for closure: In search of the missing after Venezuela’s earthquakes
La Guaira, Venezuela – It has been two weeks since a pair of powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela. And for nearly as long, Adolfo Guerra has
La Guaira, Venezuela – It has been two weeks since a pair of powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela. And for nearly as long, Adolfo Guerra has kept vigil outside a vast field of rubble in the seaside neighbourhood of Los Corales. He has not given up hope that his daughter, Alexandra, a 23-year-old physiotherapist, might still be found under the debris. “We have faith she is alive. We know there is going to be a survivor,” Guerra said, sitting with his wife and other daughter beside him.
Guerra is among the thousands in Venezuela living in a kind of limbo. Each day, the confirmed death toll ticks higher. Currently, it sits at approximately 3,811. But one figure remains unclear: how many thousands are still unaccounted for. Crowdsourcing websites have registered about 40,000 cases of missing people, although experts warn the databases may include duplicate reports or people who have since been found. Without closure, many families have arrived in hard-hit areas like La Guaira to search for their loved ones themselves.
Guerra is among them. He travelled more than 400km (about 250 miles) from the inland state of Portuguesa to sit outside the remains of Alexandra's apartment. He sleeps at night beneath a makeshift tent, with a sheet of corrugated metal as a roof and patterned sheets as walls. There are no toilets or showers nearby. Dust hangs thick in the hot coastal air. Guerra and his family remember Alexandra as calm and cheerful, with a particular love for dogs.
But there has been no sign of her yet. One night, rescuers pulled a body from the rubble and placed it near where they were sleeping. It remained there until the morning. The smell was overwhelming. But Guerra was just relieved it was not Alexandra.
The BriefWire