Zürcher Nachrichten - Venezuela unable to tally missing from cataclysmic quakes

Barring a miracle, those unaccounted for have also died, leaving the families still searching for their loved ones underneath the rubble in a desperate limbo.

The latest government report published Monday listed 6,125 deaths and 60,992 people as having received medical care.

It also recorded 43,679 affected households and 346,755 tons of cleared debris.

But officials have stayed mute about the number of missing people since the twin tremors struck on June 24.

Dozens of volunteers meanwhile dig downwards into collapsed buildings in the coastal Caraballeda neighborhood, as in other parts of the worst-hit La Guaira state.

"We're going to keep going. He's my grandson," said a tearful Victor Morales, who is still looking for the 11-year-old boy.

Morales already pulled his deceased 13-year-old granddaughter from the debris.

"We've been here since day one, digging holes 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."

- Contradictions -

In the disaster's immediate aftermath, United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher estimated over 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 things even harder is the lack of an up-to-date census in Venezuela. The last one took place in 2011, and economic and political crises since then have prevented another from occurring.

This adds to the government's general reluctance to provide demographic or economic statistics, which are only published at seemingly opportune moments.

National Assembly Chief Jorge Rodriguez, the brother of interim president Delcy Rodriguez, stated on June 30 that 30,000 people were located in the disaster zone when the quakes struck.

Nineteen thousand people had fled or been rescued, he said, while the death toll stood at around 2,000 at the time -- a tally that leaves 9,000 people unaccounted for.

La Guaira's Governor Jose Alejandro Teran, however, last week said 1,338 people were missing, basing the count on a residential registry.

- 'No reliable figures' -

In the absence of official information, Venezuelan civilians have created websites to help locate victims.

But this online data also shows discrepancies, with a gap of 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 "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 under his belt.

"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 up a cigarette as he watched a specialist team lift his son's unrecognizable body 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 searching. I didn't want to stop until he could rest in peace," the bereaved father said.

"I'm going to keep helping. There are more bodies" to recover, he added.

With his son's lifeless body found, there is one less missing person in Venezuela.

Meanwhile, the death toll creeps upwards.

I.Widmer--NZN