What's it like to search for loved ones after an earthquake?
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It's Consider This, where every day we go deep on one big news story. Today, searching for loved ones in Venezuela. It has been more than one week since twin earthquakes devastated Venezuela.
How severe were the twin earthquakes in northern Venezuela and what are the official casualty figures?
As of Wednesday, the death toll soared to 2,295 people, with more than 11,000 injured. That's according to official data from Venezuela's government. Tens of thousands more are missing, and time is running out to find people alive in the rubble. That's a rescue worker shouting into a large void in the middle of some rubble, announcing himself and asking any possible survivors to make noise. Throughout the country, families and rescue workers are left to search for loved ones who might still be alive. Consider this. Behind the staggering numbers of the dead, missing, and injured are the stories of real people who are trying to pick up the pieces of their lives. We follow some people who are searching for their loved ones.
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How are families and rescue workers responding in the immediate aftermath of the quake?
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It's Consider This from NPR. The devastation is vast in Venezuela. The death toll from the earthquake has reached nearly 2,300. More than 11,000 are injured, according to the official government count. Along the northern coast, in the hardest-hit areas, families of the missing have taken it upon themselves to dig through the rubble to find their loved ones. NPR's Eder Peralta recently joined some of them as they searched for the missing.
Just a few weeks ago, Playa Basito used to be an idyllic little beach town. Snack shops along the beach, thatched roof stores that sold swimwear. Now, dozens of people are sleeping outdoors in those same restaurants. On the hills, many of the high-rises that looked out upon the Caribbean have crumbled. And the focus for all the neighbors is 10-year-old Moises. His dad, Rene Ramirez, has been here for seven days digging by hand with neighbors, trying to find him under the rubble of his apartment. He's the middleman of my three children. He's my middle child. When the earthquake struck, he was at home with his two brothers and his mom. They ran toward the door as the earth started shaking. His mom says when things started falling on her, she made eye contact with Moises.
But he ran back into the house to try to save the family dog. Ramirez's wife and his two other kids were rescued from the wreckage hours after the quake. Without thinking, Ramirez slips into the past tense. Moises was a lovely, sweet kid, very playful. He was deaf and mute, but the whole neighborhood knew him because he found a way to make people laugh. His cousin, Alejandro Ramirez, says he would start joking as soon as he saw you. I didn't understand a thing, but he still made me laugh. As we talk, the neighbors working on the dig find some of his belongings. It means Moises must not be far. That night, I take a ride along the coast on a motorcycle, and the destruction is apocalyptic.
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