00:00A rescue efforts continue in Venezuela after back-to-back earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 affected the country.
00:07Our correspondent Luis Arbel Tomatos brings us more details from Los Corales neighborhood in La Guaira.
00:16Good evening, good morning. Sophie here, as you were saying, Los Corales in La Guaira state,
00:21the most affected state due to the back-to-back earthquakes that struck on June 24th last Wednesday.
00:27Where I'm standing right now, things are calm. It stopped raining.
00:31It was raining just minutes ago. It was pouring down rain, which hindered the operations that are ongoing in these
00:36states.
00:36Remember, as we were saying, the most affected, there are over 180 buildings that completely collapsed.
00:42It's not taking into account the over 800 buildings that have been impacted, affected in one way or another by
00:48the earthquakes.
00:48So many of them are in the red category, in the light schedule that they do to differentiate which ones
00:56are safe to go back and which ones they need more study.
00:59In this case, as we were saying, there are many of them that are in the red, which means that
01:02people cannot go back into those buildings even though they did not collapse.
01:06And talking about these people, the people that unfortunately lost their homes, lost their place where they can return to,
01:13the government, as it was announced by the acting president, Desi Rodriguez, in a press conference that she held earlier
01:19today,
01:22the phase one and phase two are currently being held simultaneously because, as she said, search and rescue has not
01:28stopped.
01:28Search and rescue continues until the very last moment that no longer there are signs of life in any locations.
01:34There are currently several active spots across La Guayra where still there are signs of survivors,
01:40and that's why operations to move as quickly as possible and as safely as possible to rescue those people are
01:46still trapped, are ongoing, and they have not stopped.
01:49These search and rescue operations that are being carried out by the Bolivarian agencies, the Civil Protection Guard, the Bolivarian
01:56Army, the police,
01:57all have been involved in this, including as well the people, the volunteers,
02:00the thousands of volunteers that have come together to join in this search and rescue operation,
02:05and also, of course, taking into account the hundreds and hundreds and thousands of international brigades that have traveled.
02:12Over 147 nations have provided support to Venezuela in this hour of need with thousands of workers,
02:19rescue workers, working around the clock to try to save as many people as possible.
02:25The current situation, as we were saying here in La Guayra, is that the search continues for those survivors,
02:29although, unfortunately, as days have passed, we are entering right now the ninth day following the devastating earthquakes that hit
02:35on June 24th.
02:37As they have passed, as you can imagine, the chances of survival for the people that are trapped is thinner
02:42and thinner,
02:43but still hope is not lost.
02:44If we take into account, just hours ago, on July 2nd, just hours past, we are over midnight right now,
02:52the Enant Hill, a Venezuelan citizen over 40 years old that was rescued among the robo after eight days being
02:58trapped,
02:59and after over a 48-hour operation to secure his safe rescue,
03:04an operation that was carried out by Venezuelan authorities, by the international brigades, by the Red Cross,
03:09led by Costa Rica, Portugal, Spain.
03:11Everyone was involved in saving this precious life.
03:14And just recently, minutes ago, the acting president, Desi Rodriguez, posted on social media
03:19that she went to the hospital where he's been treated to greet him, to be with him, to talk with
03:24him,
03:25and have that moment, that moment of interchange between the people.
03:28This is something that the acting president has called for, which is union.
03:31This is the moment for all Venezuelans to come together and to unite,
03:35to face what comes after this devastating impact, which is the reconstruction phase.
03:39I was telling you that currently, phase one and phase two are being held simultaneously.
03:42Phase one is the continued search and rescue operations to save all the lives possible.
03:48Over 6,000 people have been rescued so far following the devastating earthquakes.
03:53And phase two, which is the one that has to do with the attention to all the victims affected by
03:58this devastating earthquakes,
03:59this devastating natural phenomena, the attention which can be seen,
04:03how it's being delivered, a comprehensive attention from all spheres, from health, from the physical health,
04:08but also through the psychological health, but also what comes after when the reconstruction begins with the housing.
04:14The acting president announced a $200 million fund that has been initiated,
04:19has been opened for the reconstruction process to provide housing to all the people that lost their homes.
04:25Something also that, as we were saying, coming in this part,
04:28that so many days have passed, nine days, we're in the ninth day have passed since the earthquakes,
04:32the possibility of finding survivors is getting slimmer and slimmer.
04:37And also is the attention to the dead bodies, to the corpses of the fatal victims of the earthquakes,
04:42which, as the acting president said, is going to be, with the utmost respect,
04:46she announced that there's not going to be mass graves.
04:48They are going to rescue every single body.
04:51All bodies have been identified so far, the ones that have been able to rescue,
04:54so that the family members can say their farewell correctly and can provide, according to their religion,
05:01whatever it is, their faith, they can provide the farewell that their family members, their loved ones, deserve.
05:07So this is also something that is being carried out.
05:10I don't know if you can see behind me, it is one of the many buildings that fell down in
05:14La Guayra.
05:15Unfortunately, there are no longer life signs in that building,
05:18but even though there is no life signs in that building,
05:21you can see that the people, the workers that are doing there are working with the utmost care
05:25to try to preserve those bodies and to be able to return them to their families
05:29so that they can have a proper farewell.
05:31So that's the situation we are having right now in La Guayra.
05:35Fortunately, it stopped raining, so that makes the work of the rescue workers faster
05:39to be able to reach to the ones that are still alive.
Comments