00:02This is an apartment complex in Catia La Mara City in La Guayra, one of the worst impacted
00:07parts of Venezuela from these twin earthquakes.
00:10This is a 16-storey apartment complex which has been completely destroyed and sadly we
00:16know that there are still people inside.
00:19But as we reach nearly a week on from this natural disaster, many people here have come
00:24to the expectation that they will be recovering bodies now and not saving people's lives.
00:30In fact, where I'm standing, this used to be the pool for this apartment complex.
00:34It's completely unrecognisable now.
00:37It's just piles and mounds of concrete and steel beams and bricks and over there a list,
00:43lists, paper lists have been written up and put on the wall with handwritten names of people
00:49that are still missing in this apartment complex alone.
00:51That's really common across the state of La Guayra.
00:55Every apartment complex, many of them have lists of people's names because there is no centralised
01:01system to keep track of everyone that is missing.
01:05So local communities are setting up these lists and riding on dirt in people's cars to keep
01:12track of those loved ones and friends that have not been found so far.
01:17And we've spoken with volunteers here who have been, who have travelled and they don't necessarily
01:22have friends or family here, but they want to help.
01:25We spoke with one man who said that he's saved three people so far, but he feels incredibly guilty
01:30that he hasn't saved more because he knows that thousands are still missing.
01:34This apartment complex as well, completely destroyed.
01:36In ruins, mattress, bricks, the cars have been totaled.
01:42And we know that search and rescue crews have been through here, but have since left.
01:47Now, we heard only a couple of days ago that we could still hear pets
01:51whimpering and barking out from this building and residents were coming and calling for their
01:56pets to see if they could escape, but sadly to no avail. And this is not uncommon here in the
02:04state
02:04of La Guayra. There is still tens of thousands of people unaccounted for. Right now, a search crew
02:12is getting ready to prepare for that building there, but they're waiting to turn off the electricity
02:17before they go in. But it's becoming increasingly as well, it's a dangerous job, especially because
02:23these aren't officials half the time. There are many just local Venezuelans and people trying to
02:28support their community in clearly very dangerous circumstances. This building, you can see here,
02:34a D has been written. That is a sign that search and rescue crews have been here and have marked
02:40it
02:40for demolition. And the reality is there is very likely still bodies in here. There are definitely pets
02:45in here, but they've deemed it too risky for what they can go and retrieve now as we reach closer
02:50to a
02:51week of this natural disaster. The situation in La Guayra is a total mess. There are thousands of
02:58people still missing, but the issue is there isn't enough heavy machinery to go through and search
03:03apartment complexes like this one. So search and rescue crews can only do so much with their bare
03:07hands or little equipment that they have. And now the government has been blocking off media and press
03:14to this area. And in fact, they announced that there was a 48 hour ban for international media to be
03:20in La Guayra. And many residents have told me that they believe that that's a form of censorship,
03:24that the government doesn't want the world to see this disaster because they're completely
03:30ill-prepared for this mess. It's a disaster on an enormous scale as is, the worst earthquake in a
03:38century. But residents here have been very frustrated because they haven't seen a coordinated effort and
03:44response from the government, like what we're seeing in Caracas, where the media is allowed to
03:49film, because there's so much disaster that it's impossible to cover. But they feel that the government
03:56should be more coordinated or should at least be allowing more help in. Whilst there's loads of
04:01international aid and foreign and search and rescue people here, we've been told that some of them have
04:08been having trouble getting permits in to then come up to La Guayra to help. So there is that issue
04:13as well,
04:14where the international aid workers are being restricted or finding limitations because the
04:19situation is just so catastrophic at a scale that this government is ill-prepared to manage.
04:25Many people have very fond memories of La Guayra. It's a coastal city, it's quite beautiful,
04:31and many people come here for vacation or have holiday homes here. Now it's unrecognisable
04:37for so many people, and being here and hearing their stories is...
04:48It's heartbreaking.
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04:52You
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