Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jun 28
Hundreds of Caracas Volunteers Search Collapsed Building 3 Days After Double Quakes
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jun 28

Hundreds of Caracas Volunteers Search Collapsed Building 3 Days After Double Quakes

3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jun 28

Summary

  • Hundreds of volunteers gathered Saturday night at Caracas’s collapsed Residencia Rita apartment building, still searching for possible survivors three days after Wednesday’s twin earthquakes.
  • A severe shortage of heavy rescue machinery forced residents and trained volunteers to rely on a single jackhammer, pickaxes and bucket brigades to clear multiple stories of concrete.
  • San Bernardino’s rescue effort turned into a broad community mobilization, with people lining up like firefighters to pass rubble hand to hand toward the street.
  • A 14-member volunteer team led by journalist María Alejandra Navarro joined the search, underscoring how civilians are filling gaps in the formal emergency response.

Insights

With Venezuela's infrastructure already in ruins, can the nation ever truly recover from a disaster of this magnitude?
As millions in aid pour into a failing state, will it reach the victims or fuel the crisis it aims to solve?