SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
It's now been more than a week since twin earthquakes struck Venezuela. The devastation is vast. Officially, the government says more than 2,000 people are dead and at least 11,000 are injured. Unofficially, there are fears the death toll is far higher. Along the northern coast and 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 Eyder Peralta reports.
(SOUNDBITE OF WAVES CRASHING)
EYDER PERALTA, BYLINE: Just a few weeks ago, Playa Vasito 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.
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: And the focus for all the neighbors is 10-year-old Moises.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHAINS RATTLING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Speaking Spanish).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: 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.
RENE RAMIREZ: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "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."
R RAMIREZ: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "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.
R RAMIREZ: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "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."
ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: His cousin, Alejandro Ramirez, says he would start joking as soon as he saw you.
A RAMIREZ: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "I didn't understand a thing, but he still made me laugh."
(CROSSTALK)
PERALTA: As we talk, the neighbors working on the dig find some of his belongings. It means Moises must not be far.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOTORCYCLE ENGINE)
PERALTA: That night, I take a ride along the coast on a motorcycle. And the destruction is apocalyptic. Some buildings are pulverized. Others have tipped over. The different floors are stacked neatly on top of each other. Wherever you turn, there is desperation. In Los Cocos beach, I find Ivanoska Ortega, who was looking for Romel Parra, her best friend.
IVANOSKA ORTEGA: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "He's like my brother," she says. On her phone, she has a picture of Parra, his wife and their little girl. He's making a silly face. The little girl is serious, dressed in her Sunday best. Ortega says she got a call from Parra two days ago.
ORTEGA: (Speaking Spanish). (Imitating radio static).
PERALTA: She picked up, but all she heard was static, like he was in a closed room. For seven days, they've searched alone trying to figure out which pieces of concrete they can remove safely. But finally, she was able to find a group of miners - experts in search and rescue - to come and help. They came with dogs and heat sensors. It was a moment of hope.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: The miners get right to work. They want silence so they can hear if anyone is alive.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: They hear noises on top of the building, and they climb quickly. Another man wiggles into a hole at the bottom of the building, and he emerges with a video on his cellphone.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: It shows a woman trapped in the rubble, hugging a little girl. Ortega just shakes her head as reality hits. These were the most Christian people she knew, she tells herself.
ORTEGA: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "These were praying people. They prayed when they ate, when they left home, when they got in the car." A neighbor wraps her arms around her.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #6: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "They're with Christ, my love."
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #6: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "And you're demonstrating what true friendship looks like." The miners say it's too dangerous to pull out the bodies because they're already decomposing.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #7: (Speaking Spanish).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #8: (Speaking Spanish).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #7: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "We did what we could," they say, and take off to the next building.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #7: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: Even eight days after the earthquake, miracles do continue to happen. A person was found alive on Day 8, but not that night. That night, a nearly full moon rose over the wreckage, and the air smelled of death.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #9: (Crying).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #10: No.
PERALTA: In the corner of another building, a father quietly sobs. He's alone now. They had just pulled the bodies of both his kids, 10 and 15, out of the wreckage. His wife is still in there somewhere.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #10: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "I'm so angry at the government that they just let us die here." He asked we not use his name because he fears retribution from the government.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #10: (Speaking Spanish).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #11: (Speaking Spanish).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #12: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "We got no help," he says, "They treated us like dogs."
(SOUNDBITE OF WAVES CRASHING)
PERALTA: By the time we get back to the quiet beach town, it was past 2 in the morning.
(SOUNDBITE OF MACHINERY)
PERALTA: Finally, a crew with big machines had showed up. Moises' cousin, Alejandro Ramirez, leans against the truck. His eyes are heavy.
A RAMIREZ: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "Yesterday, I got to the point where my body just couldn't take it anymore." But he's not leaving, he says, until Moises is out of the rubble.
A RAMIREZ: (Speaking Spanish).
PERALTA: "Those of us who are alive are living in a purgatory," he says. "We don't know what is going to happen to us."
(SOUNDBITE OF MACHINERY)
PERALTA: The machines struggled with a huge boulder that ended up inside the apartment building. It's painstaking work. The backhoe moves some dirt, and everyone inspects it for signs of Moises. They search until the sun comes up, and around midday, they do find Moises. The boy, who one neighbor called impossibly beautiful, was laid to rest that same afternoon. Eyder Peralta, NPR News, La Guaira, Venezuela.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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