The earthquake disaster zone in Venezuela, militarized and with strong restrictions
Access to the state of La Guaira, the disaster zone from Wednesday's double earthquake in Venezuela, is heavily restricted this Saturday by police and military, as ordered by the government.
The restriction comes after the city collapsed on Friday amid a throng of private vehicles that moved to bring humanitarian aid and the desperate call for help from those affected by the 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes for debris removal with machinery.
Hundreds of police are trying to organize and give priority to vehicles carrying cargo and rescue teams, causing a traffic bottleneck on the Caracas-La Guaira highway.
The press is being controlled for entry and is transported on a bus with authorization from the Ministry of Communications to a route established by the authorities.
The communications portfolio explained that the decision to transport the press by bus aims to protect journalists from the risk of infections, after almost 72 hours from the earthquakes.
Jason Álvarez, a volunteer from Caracas, told EFE that he is trying to return to La Guaira this Saturday to continue collaborating with the rescue of people, along with his dog Sam.
"We went down yesterday and did a search, unfortunately we found four bodies and today we are willing again to be allowed through to continue providing the service," he said from a long line of hundreds of vehicles on the Caracas-La Guaira highway.
In his opinion, there are still more people needed to help with rescue efforts because the situation is "severe."
This Saturday, the President of Parliament, Jorge Rodríguez, asked the population not to travel to La Guaira on their own so as not to hinder the transfer of the injured, as well as the deployment of heavy machinery for debris collection.
He also said that those who want to volunteer can register at the Poliedro de Caracas to do the work in a more organized manner.
Rodríguez indicated that 1,430 people have died after Wednesday's double earthquake, while there are 3,238 injured and 3,142 affected families.
On the other hand, the acting president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, reported this Saturday that 2,600 tons of food and drinking water were distributed in the region during the early morning for affected families.
