His family trapped in the earthquakes in Venezuela, sought help on social networks

LA GAIRA, Venezuela — Discouraged because rescuers had not arrived to look for his family, buried in the rubble after last week's two earthquakes, Rubén Darío Sillie took to social media.

“We are alone, alone men collecting stones, beams, totally alone,” Sillie said on Instagram.

He burst into tears as he stood in front of the collapsed eight-story building, La Orca, where he lived with his wife and two daughters, in the Las Playas neighborhood of the city decimated by the La Guaira earthquake facing the Caribbean.

“We need tractors and rescue workers on Bella Vista Street,” pleaded Sillie, 44, a business consultant. “Please. “We need help.”

Their lament reflects the anguish of legions of Venezuelans who endured harrowing days clearing debris by hand before crews with heavy equipment and rescue dogs arrived belatedly. By then, it was too late for many buried in the debris.

As of Tuesday, the official death toll from the two earthquakes, the deadliest in more than two centuries that hit the South American nation, was approaching 2,000. The number of injured exceeded 10,000. Thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, were still missing.

The US-backed interim government of President Delcy Rodríguez has come under heavy criticism for not responding more decisively. A massive military and security apparatus dedicated for more than a quarter-century to propping up the ruling socialist government, critics say, has scuttled an essential humanitarian aid mission and even hampered voluntary rescue efforts.

It was not until foreign relief teams began deploying en masse on Friday and Saturday – long after the two tremors that occurred on Wednesday night – that systematic searches began in earthquake-hit areas such as La Guaira, ground zero of the catastrophe.

Early Wednesday night, Sillie was in her second-floor apartment planning to watch the World Cup match between Brazil and Scotland. With him were his wife, his daughter Camila, 15, and his father.

The youngest of the couple, 10-year-old Dariana, was upstairs in the top-floor apartment where Sillie's sister and her husband lived.

Around the time of the start, Sillie said, his cell phone sent a text message with a seismic alert.. The family crawled under a door frame, a timeworn strategy based on the often mistaken belief that doors offer protection.

“That's when the building collapsed like a stack of dominoes,” Sillie recalls. “They knocked me out.”

He woke up to his daughter's heartbreaking screams. Hugging him was his wife. He was unconscious and had serious head trauma.

“She died in my arms,” Sillie said.

Alejandro Palomino, center, of the Los Angeles County Fire Department checks his radio during a search and rescue mission in Catia La Mar, Venezuela.

(Carlos Becerra / For The Times)

Blood dripped from his head; His father and daughter suffered various injuries. Although in shock, everyone was conscious.

The three came to an excruciating decision: they had to get out and get help before more debris crushed them or cut off any escape.

“We had no choice but to leave my wife behind,” he said.

The three of them, adrenaline pumping, climbed through the rubble. They arrived at a nearby clinic, San Antonio de Catia La Mar, where beleaguered staff were implementing emergency triage, prioritizing those with life-threatening conditions. All three were treated and released.

“They stitched my wounds and early in the morning I returned to our building,” Sillie said.

His wife, his sister, his brother-in-law and his youngest daughter were somewhere among the pile of rubble, one of many piles of concrete, rebar, plaster and other debris that were all that remained of dozens of buildings throughout La Guaira, a city of 25,000 people.

But there were no police. No firefighters. No army. Only civilian volunteers digging among the irregular piles.

“Since there was no help, it occurred to me to make a video with a phone that someone lent me,” he said.

The video went viral and summed up the prevailing mood of outrage over the lack of official action.

In Sillie's opinion, the online post motivated Venezuelan soldiers and police to come to his house. They recovered several bodies, including that of Sillie's wife. A 10-year-old boy was also found alive.

Norka Inés Villalonga, Sillie's mother-in-law, said her daughter's badly disfigured body remained covered by a sheet on the sidewalk for hours. Family and friends convinced her not to see the remains, which were finally transferred to the José María Vargas Hospital in La Guaira.

“My daughter was not taken to the morgue, but to the hospital parking lot,” Villalonga said. “When I arrived there were 900 dead there… It was a river of dead.”

Her son, who accompanied her, faced a macabre task: opening one body bag after another to identify his sister. He recognized her hair and her earrings. She was corpse number 280.

Survivors of a pair of recent earthquakes camp outdoors in Catia La Mar.

(Carlos Becerra / For The Times)

Meanwhile, terrifying aftershocks continued to shake the area, spreading terror in a population that was already at the limit of its resistance.

Finally, the family obtained an official death certificate and arranged for the cremation of Carleydi Lozada, 43, a mother of two.

Back at their building, Sillie says, the Venezuelan rescue contingent soon left. His youngest daughter, sister and brother-in-law were still missing. Sillie posted a second video, in which the mobile phone shows the ruins against a blue sky background.

“Please come, at least help us get the bodies out,” Sillie pleaded, her head bandaged.

Soon, a chilling report began circulating among family and friends.

Word spread that Sillie's missing brother-in-law had sent a text message to her cell phone: “We're trapped, help.”

A man holds a sleeping toddler inside a military tent where residents took shelter after back-to-back earthquakes hit Catia La Mar.

(Carlos Becerra / For The Times)

Were they still alive? Relatives were never able to locate the rumored recipient. It remains a question whether the episode was anything more than rumors amid the omnipresent sense of mass confusion and despair.

“In these times in Venezuela there is no certainty about anything,” said Vicente Forte, Sillie's cousin. “It’s all word of mouth.”

Finally, emergency squads from all over the world arrived in La Guaira.

“Brother, I'm not leaving here with my group until we find the last member of your family,” a team leader from Argentina assured Sillie.

The two hugged each other.

“He had total empathy for me,” Sillie said. “I will be forever grateful to him.”

By Monday afternoon, searchers had recovered the bodies of his sister, Jeannina Sillie, and her husband, Juan Bastidas, both 51-year-old doctors. Dariana, 10 years old, was still missing.

His father promised to keep watch.

“My daughter could be alive,” he said. “She could be in a cavity, or in a gap, in an air bubble. She could be. Miracles happen. You can't lose hope.”

Hope continued its course. As midnight approached on Monday, rescuers pulled Dariana's body from the mound of rubble that had once been her home.

Special correspondent Mogollón reported from La Guaira and Times editor McDonnell from Mexico City. Special correspondent Cecilia Sánchez Vidal in Mexico City contributed to this report.