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With an unofficial tally of the missing in Venezuela that tops 30,000 people, the government’s confirmed earthquake death toll of 3,342 could be surpassed many times over.
Nevertheless, the aftermath of the twin June 24 quakes is clearly entering a new phase.
International rescue teams, quietly acknowledging the possibility that no more victims would be found alive after 12 days under the rubble, are preparing to depart. Local authorities are turning their focus to finding shelter for thousands of displaced people. And the recovery of the dead has become a pressing and horrifying task for Venezuelans still missing their loved ones.
Here’s a visual look at how Venezuelans are dealing with the search for bodies, and how they’re remembering those who have died.
Residents feel alone
Residents say they are alone in the search for their dead. Many say that just as they were left without government help to rescue survivors in the immediate aftermath of the quakes, so too are they now under-equipped to unearth their dead nearly two weeks later.
Below, people embrace on July 4 after rescue workers tell them there are no survivors in a home destroyed by the earthquakes in La Guaira, Venezuela.
(Ariana Cubillos/The Associated Press)
More than 16,000 people have been injured. In this image, Fabricio Gutierrez, 16, recovers at Perez Carreno Hospital in the capital, Caracas, after his foot was amputated because of injuries he suffered when the apartment building where he lived in La Guaira collapsed.
(Matias Delacroix/The Associated Press)
Over the weekend in hard-hit La Guaira, no government civil defence crews or security forces could be seen helping families dig, The Associated Press reported. The vast majority of those working their way through the wreckage were civilians using their bare hands or rudimentary tools.
“We are the ones helping ourselves, our family. Nobody else helps us except for a few volunteers,” said Yeikhary Urbina, who found the bodies of her mother and brother on Saturday.
Below, a man chooses clothes, donated to those affected by the earthquakes, at a sports complex in La Guaira on July 4.
(Ariana Cubillos/The Associated Press)
Search teams from Italy, Argentina, Spain and other countries have already returned home. The Venezuelan government has not yet called off the search for survivors. But officials have pivoted from promoting heroic rescue stories on social media to announcing reconstruction plans under a program called Venezuela Reborn.
Meanwhile, citizens bury and mourn the dead, especially in La Guaira:
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