Lewin, the State Department official, said the US military would help coordinate flights to bring in search and rescue workers, mobile hospitals and supplies. He said two 80-person search teams were at work and a U.S. Navy transport ship was docked off the coast of Venezuela ready to receive airlifted survivors in need of medical attention. Lewin said it is a “race against the clock” to find people injured in the quakes. “People are trapped under rubble, and the priority is to get the search
and rescue teams and the medical professionals and others to them as quickly as possible to save lives,” he said. In the city of Maiquetia, people lined up outside stores and pharmacies that served them one by one behind closed doors. At one point a woman in a crowd threw herself to the ground to protect a package of diapers with her body, desperate to keep it. Traffic and throngs of motorcyclists at times disrupted search efforts. Mexican soldiers and volunteers repeatedly asked for silence
to try to hear signs of life under the rubble, but bikers — civilian and uniformed — continued to honk horns and rev engines to the first responders’ frustration.
Venezuela earthquakes, missing people, search and rescue, Maiquetia, US military coordination, mobile hospitals, U.S. Navy transport ship, Lewin
70,000 missing is insane. Hope they find everybody.
They keep saying “race against the clock” but it takes forever to get help when stuff like this happens. Also why are people lining up like it’s a normal day… I get diapers are important but still.
So is the Navy ship already there or did they just say it’s docked? I’m confused. And 80-person search teams… seems small? Like would 160 people even cover anything with all that rubble. Maybe the numbers are exaggerated.
The bikers honking and revving is just wild to me. Like try to be quiet for once, especially when they’re listening for voices under the rubble. But honestly I feel like no one knows what’s happening until it hits the news here in the States. Also missing people probably includes folks who aren’t “missing” they’re just stuck somewhere, right? Either way this is heartbreaking.