LA GUAIRA – In the heat of the day, Rosa López quietly recounted the heart-wrenching task of navigating through rows of bodies, exposed under the sun, as she assisted her daughter in searching for her missing husband. Despite her experience as a nurse, she was unprepared for the grim scene of countless dead shrouded in sheets and blankets.
“We saw a lot of bodies that had not yet been identified,” López shared, her voice tinged with sorrow.
As families scramble to find loved ones, La Guaira, the Venezuelan state hardest hit by the devastating earthquakes on June 24, faces a race against time. With at least 2,295 lives lost, the region is grappling with an overwhelming number of corpses that authorities struggle to process and preserve for identification. Meanwhile, thousands more remain missing.
José Antonio Toledo, the 25-year-old son-in-law of López, was tragically discovered under the rubble of the building where he had been working as a security guard when the earthquakes struck. His body was initially taken to a local hospital, only to be turned away due to overcrowding, and then redirected to another facility, eventually ending up in an open parking lot.
Days later, a forensic doctor assisted the family in locating his body. After finally identifying him on Saturday, the López family faced a new dilemma—without the $450 fee demanded by a funeral home, they were at a loss for how to proceed with a proper burial.
At almost midnight on Saturday, López got word that the mayor’s office was offering them a free space at a local cemetery, but they had to move quickly to not lose the spot. An hour later, López and her daughter trudged up a hill leading to the cemetery and buried Toledo.
“He was an exemplary person, a boy who liked helping people,” López said.
They saved him from a mass grave that many fear is coming as they search for the bodies of their loved ones.
The number of bodies found is expected to soar
Forensic technician Joel Mirabal has worked for seven days straight since the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes struck.
The 45-year-old estimates that in 60%-70% of cases, there’s a relative or neighbor available to identify a body when he comes to pick it up. Even so, it’s a struggle, he said, with many relying on tattoos, scars or familiar clothing.
“They don’t look even 10% like what they were in real life,” he said of the victims.
If a body cannot be identified, it goes to forensic specialists working at La Guaira seaport. Private companies have donated large cooling containers to help preserve the bodies, but the number of dead keeps growing.
“Obviously, mass graves will have to be created,” Mirabal said. “The collapse is massive, and the bodies are buried under many layers of debris.”
Mirabal said he and other forensic technicians anticipate spending up to three months collecting bodies.
They drive around the affected areas every day, led by rescue crews and civilians who have recovered or spotted bodies.
“Many of the rescues are carried out by the people,” he said of the thousands of ordinary Venezuelans who have pitched in for the recovery effort.
A dog trainer by profession who once helped the government locate drugs and missing people, Mirabal finds solace in the 12 dogs waiting for him at home, not counting the puppies. One of his favorites is Mila, a young black Dutch Shepherd who lay by his side on Thursday as he rested.
“It’s not easy at all to witness the suffering and tragedy of your fellow human beings,” he said.
Venezuelans wait in line to try to identify loved ones
Over the weekend, crews took dozens of bodies recovered from flattened buildings to a government-run health care facility in the city of La Guaira. They were left on a sweltering parking lot until families identified them, with funeral home workers estimating that more than 200 bodies were kept there at one point.
On Thursday, those who lost loved ones waited outside La Guaira seaport to identify bodies that authorities continue to pick up across the coastal state. Cars, including trucks and vans from funeral homes, formed a line outside a makeshift morgue.
Among those waiting was Robert Rodríguez. He sat on a concrete block, crestfallen, his legs dangling, waiting for his daughter to identify the body of his son-in-law. Rafael Alvarado died trapped inside a grocery store where he worked at the deli counter.
“He was her best friend,” Rodríguez said as tears soaked his blue face mask.
Rodriguez said the family found Alvarado in the rubble on Wednesday, his body freed and transported to the port on Thursday.
“I saw his shoes and knew it was him,” Rodríguez said, adding that he warned his daughter. “I told her, ‘Prepare yourself.’”
He said the family plans to cremate Alvarado and scatter his ashes on Isla de Margarita, the Venezuelan island that was his home.
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Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
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