Venezuela unable to tally missing from cataclysmic quakes

In the absence of official information, Venezuelans have created websites to help locate victims. U.S. troops cut through rebar while clearing rubble during a search at a building that collapsed in the twin earthquakes in La Guaira, Venezuela, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos) (AFP) — Official figures show that more than 6,000 people died in the earthquakes that struck Venezuela in June, but authorities have not said how many more remain missing. Barring a miracle, those unaccounted for have also died, leaving families searching for their loved ones beneath the rubble in desperate limbo. The latest government report, published Monday, listed 6,125 deaths and 60,992 people who received medical care. It also recorded 43,679 affected households and 346,755 tons of cleared debris. But officials have not disclosed the number of missing people since the twin earthquakes struck June 24. Dozens of volunteers, meanwhile, continue digging through collapsed buildings in the coastal Caraballeda neighborhood, as in other parts of the hardest-hit La Guaira state. “We’re going to keep going. He’s my grandson,” said a tearful Victor Morales, who is still searching for the 11-year-old boy. Morales already recovered the body of his 13-year-old granddaughter from the debris. “We’ve been here since day one, digging all the way down to the ground floor,” the 50-year-old carpenter told AFP. “Until I find him, I’m not going to stop.” In the disaster’s immediate aftermath, United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher estimated that more than 50,000 people were missing. But a diplomatic source told AFP the calculation was incorrect. “It’s impossible to know exactly, but around 10,000 or more,” the source said. Making matters more difficult is the lack of an up-to-date census in Venezuela. The last one took place in 2011, and the economic and political crises since then have prevented another from being conducted. That adds to the government’s general reluctance to release demographic or economic statistics, which are published only at what critics say are politically opportune moments. National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez, the brother of interim President Delcy Rodriguez, said June 30 that 30,000 people were in the disaster zone when the earthquakes struck. Nineteen thousand people had fled or been rescued, he said, while the death toll stood at about 2,000 at the time — a tally that left 9,000 people unaccounted for. La Guaira Gov. Jose Alejandro Teran, however, said last week that 1,338 people were missing, based on a residential registry. In the absence of official information, Venezuelans have created websites to help locate victims. But the online data also shows discrepancies, with a gap of about 20,000 between the lowest and highest estimates of missing people. According to one site, “Venezuela te busca” (“Venezuela Is Looking for You”), 44,274 people were initially reported missing, while “17,790 have yet to be found.” But the website “Desaparecidos terremoto Venezuela” (“Missing Persons Earthquake”) lists 44,418 people as missing, with 29,518 listed as “uncontactable.” And according to venezuelareports.org, 41,311 people are missing. Despite the initiatives’ good intentions, the diplomatic source said, “there are no reliable figures.” Esteban Chala is an Argentine rescue volunteer with years of experience. “In disasters of this magnitude, it always happens that some people are not found and remain missing,” he said. Police officer Fernando Bencomo, 50, lit a cigarette as he watched a specialist team recover the body of his son and his pet dog from the ruins. It took 40 days to locate 21-year-old student Fernando Antonio. “He had his whole life ahead of him,” Bencomo told AFP. “From day one, I’ve been here searchin