Portugal Colonial - As Venezuela quake deaths pass 3,000, attention turns to mourning, burials

The June 24 double shocks, one of Latin America's worst quake disasters, toppled scores of buildings in the La Guaira coastal area north of Caracas and left thousands of people missing.

As international rescue teams packed up and ended attempts to find survivors, attention shifted to mourning those lost and burying the remains that families have recovered from the ruins.

In a secluded area of La Esperanza cemetery in La Guaira, gravediggers buried more than 150 bodies still unidentified since the earthquakes, AFP journalists saw.

A line of simple white crosses with small bouquets at their foot marked a long row of individual graves. Each one had the same date of death: June 24, 2026.

Two excavators were working to dig more graves in the light brown earth.

"We are first and foremost overcome with grief," said local resident Eli Zavala, who was helping with the burials.

"We started here on July 25th, the very next day, to do all the work...so that all those people could have dignified burials."

According to updated official figures on Sunday, at least 3,342 people died and another 16,700 were injured.

With nearly 200 buildings totally collapsed, most of them in La Guaira, more than 17,000 people have been left homeless and are sleeping in shelters and temporary camps.

The government has not given any figure for those still missing, but the UN estimates that as many as 50,000 people may still be unaccounted for after the shocks.

Many families are still trying to search for relatives in the rubble.

"I've lost track of the days. You lose your mind, but I'm not leaving here because I know he's there," said Zuly, looking for her son in Catia la Mar district.

She now sleeps in a plaza near where he worked.

"I found his motorcycle, I found his helmet. He's there, God willing, alive. If not, at least I can find him, see him...I'm not leaving here without my son."

- 'No social unrest' -

Even before the quakes, Venezuela had been struggling with economic crisis and political upheaval that left infrastructure and health services depleted.

The UN estimates the quakes caused $6.7 billion in damage - equivalent to six percent of Venezuela's GDP.

The damaged international airport serving Caracas is still closed to commercial flights.

Soon after the quakes, many Venezuelans complained they were left alone to dig for families in the ruins and criticized the government's response until international teams arrived.

Interim President Delcy Rodriguez has defended the government reaction, saying thousands of public officials and rescue teams were dispatched.

On Sunday, she dismissed concerns about upheaval over the quakes.

"There will be no social unrest here, what we have here is deep social solidarity," Rodriguez said during a military ceremony marking the country's independence day.

Across Caracas and La Guaira, many were focussed instead on Sunday services in churches to remember those lost and still missing.

On the campus of Venezuela Central University in Caracas, dozens of people gathered around a large Venezuela flag surrounded by candles for a vigil.

"I've met with couples who have lost both their children, or two of their three. It's very painful," Father Rafael Troconis told AFP in La Guaira.

"You try to offer support as much as you can. You want to be close to those who are suffering. You notice a lot of sadness and despair."

C.Cassis--PC