Chinese communities in Venezuela have devoted themselves to relief efforts after two devastating earthquakes struck the country in recent days.
The twin quakes, measuring magnitude 7.2 and 7.5, struck central Venezuela less than a minute apart on June 24. The death toll from the disaster has risen to 2,645, with 12,666 people injured, Venezuelan National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez said on Friday.
Among the overseas Chinese volunteers is Franco Chen, first vice president of the Chinese Federation in Venezuela, who now spends most of his time on search and rescue operations, coordinating relief efforts, delivering supplies, and comforting grieving families.
On a routine day following the quakes, which inflicted heavy losses to local Chinese communities, Chen took a one-hour drive at noon to La Guaira state, the hardest-hit region of the country, where roads had been blocked by military and police officers and temporary shelters had been filled with displaced residents.
Chen's first task was to assist local authorities in identifying victims from the Chinese community at La Guaira Port, one of Venezuela's most vital international trade hubs but now a temporary morgue for the deceased.
"We are trying to identify the remains of members of the Chinese community and other Asian nationals. We are here to confirm their identities," Chen said.
And then, Chen rushed to Caraballeda, one of the hardest-hit areas in La Guaira, where rescue work was still underway, with the help of four pieces of heavy machinery.
"We have been providing the rescue teams with supplies they need, including diesel, food, drinking water, hydration supplies, lighting equipment, and various kinds of hand tools like pickaxes, shovels, grinders, and drills," Chen said.
Later, Chen traveled to Catia La Mar, another severely affected area in the coastal state.
From the debris of a collapsed residential building in the town, rescuers found a cellphone at dusk and gave it to a 19-year-old girl, the sole survivor of a four-member Chinese family that had been living in the building.
At that night, the bodies of those three victims were recovered from the rubble.
"More than four Chinese families were living in this building. At the time of the quake, only two families were home. One family was rescued, but three people of the other did not survive," Chen said.
From dusk to late into the night, Chen's three mobile phones almost never stopped buzzing, because he was constantly coordinating rescue vehicles and emergency supplies. In the endless hours following the quakes, Chen and his fellow overseas Chinese volunteers have stood watch without rest, shielding their compatriots in distress.
Overseas Chinese volunteers join quake relief in Venezuela
