Elena Rocha, resident of the Caribbean Golf I building in Caraballeda, La Guaira state, reported this Monday that the rescue teams took too long to arrive in her area after the earthquakes on June 24, 2026, and that this delay cost her son's life.
"Here they took a long time to send the rescuers. I was searching, pleading; my son needed to be saved for more than a day," Rocha recounted.
According to his testimony, the young man became trapped between the bars of the building and a concrete wall, and the volunteers trying to free him did not have the necessary equipment.
"Those who were trying to rescue him were working with their bare hands. The cutting disc was necessary because my son was completely trapped, and it was impossible to get him out any other way," he explained.
The mother recounted that she had to move away from the site to search for materials in a nearby building, while her son was still alive under the rubble. The help arrived too late.
"I cried until I ran out of tears. They took a long time to get here. In this area, where the building is located, it took them a very long time," stated Rocha, who pointed out that the same situation affected the neighboring buildings Carinamar and Parque Caraballeda.
The outcome was devastating: Elena Rocha lost not only her son but also her husband.
"Now I am left alone, without my husband and without my two children, but God will give me the strength to move forward," she said.
Rocha's testimony adds to a pattern of uneven delays in rescue efforts documented in various areas of La Guaira, where some regions received priority attention while others waited without sufficient resources.
The earthquakes that triggered the tragedy were two tremors of magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5, occurring just 39 seconds apart, with the epicenter near Morón, Carabobo state.
The coastal area of Caraballeda, densely populated and featuring numerous residential complexes several decades old, was one of the hardest hit.
The chronic shortage of heavy machinery and specialized equipment, exacerbated by years of institutional decline in Venezuela, severely limited the response.
Although more than 25 international teams from 17 countries were deployed, the magnitude of the disaster exceeded the available resources.
The Venezuelan government also faced criticism for the militarization of affected areas, which restricted access for volunteers and medical personnel.
The official figures as of the end of this Monday reported 1,450 confirmed deaths and 3,238 injuries, while the UN estimated over 50,000 missing and 6.76 million affected individuals.
The United States Geological Survey projected a final scenario with a 42% probability of between 10,000 and 100,000 fatalities due to the earthquakes.
Among the few moments of relief amidst the tragedy, international teams managed to rescue a 10-month-old baby and an 11-year-old boy from the rubble in La Guaira, but for many families like Elena Rocha's, help did not arrive in time.
Filed under: