‘I can only describe it as a war zone’: the rescuers navigating Venezuela’s post-quake hellscape

Europe Culture Sat, 04 Jul 2026 23:00:57 GMT Moderate confidence — 68/100

When twin earthquakes tore through Venezuela’s northern coast last week, Israel Rivas was at home hundreds of miles away in the industrial city of San Félix.
As the scale of the catastrophe became clear, the 24-year-old knew he had to react.
A mechanic and budding photographer, Rivas gathered the money he had been saving to buy a new camera lens and jumped on a bus to make the 12-hour journey to La Guaira, the coastal state that has suffered the most damage.

When twin earthquakes tore through Venezuela’s northern coast last week, Israel Rivas was at home hundreds of miles away in the industrial city of San Félix.
As the scale of the catastrophe became clear, the 24-year-old knew he had to react.
A mechanic and budding photographer, Rivas gathered the money he had been saving to buy a new camera lens and jumped on a bus to make the 12-hour journey to La Guaira, the coastal state that has suffered the most damage.

Sources: Guardian