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Search team from Los Angeles joins earthquake rescue efforts in Venezuela
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+ By
John Otis
A member of the Los Angeles County Fire Department moves through the rubble of a building that collapsed from earthquakes in La Guaira, Venezuela, Tuesday.
− Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Search team from Los Angeles joins earthquake rescue efforts in Venezuela In Venezuela, emergency crews - including a team from LA - are working tirelessly to reach those still missing after last week's earthquakes.
+ Matias Delacroix/AP hide caption
CARABALLEDA, Venezuela — From the roof of a collapsed, 12-story building in the coastal town of Caraballeda, an American search-and-rescue team is digging down.
− The Americas Search team from Los Angeles joins earthquake rescue efforts in Venezuela July 2, 20264:48 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition By John Otis Search team from Los Angeles joins earthquake rescue efforts in Venezuela Listen · 4:24 4:24 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5877393/nx-s1-9833521" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript In Venezuela, emergency crews - including a team from LA - are working tirelessly to reach those still missing after last week's earthquakes.
+ Helping out this Tuesday are Venezuelan volunteers, several of whom are related to the three teenaged girls who are trapped in the debris.
"Keep scooping!
− Sponsor Message
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
People are still searching for survivors in Venezuela from last week's earthquakes that killed more than 2,200 people.
+ Keep scooping!
− The Venezuelan government has been slow to react, so much of the job has fallen to international rescue teams, including a crew from Los Angeles. Reporter John Otis has more.
+ Keep scooping!" says one of the crew members, urging on those who are deep inside the structure, digging and removing debris.
− UNIDENTIFIED RESCUE WORKER #1: Keep scooping.
+ The Americas Untold casualties and humanitarian needs: What to know a week from Venezuela's quakes People are still searching for survivors of last week's twin earthquakes that killed at least 2,595, according to the authorities' latest count, with tens of thousands still unaccounted for.
− Keep scooping.
+ The Venezuelan government has been slow to react, so much of the work has fallen to international rescue teams. Among them are members of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, which previously deployed to Nepal, Mexico and Turkey after earthquakes in those countries.
− UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Speaking Spanish).
UNIDENTIFIED RESCUE WORKER #1: Keep scooping.
JOHN OTIS: From the roof of a collapsed 12-story building in the coastal town of Caraballeda, an American search-and-rescue team is digging down.
+ They've brought sniffer dogs, jackhammers, electric saws to cut through rebar, aluminum ladders, sonar and listening devices.
− Helping out are Venezuelan volunteers.
+ When it's time to use them, a man with a bullhorn demands silence.
− Some are the relatives of three teenaged girls who are trapped in the debris.
+ Then, the rescue team tries to communicate with the victims.
− UNIDENTIFIED RESCUE WORKER #1: 'Cause all the dust and the dirt just keeps going into the hole.
OTIS: The Americans are members of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, which previously deployed to Nepal, Mexico and Turkey after earthquakes in those countries.
They've tunneled down.
+ "We go through a series of commands, telling them: 'If you can hear me, tap or knock twice, or three times,'" says LA fire Capt.
− They're trying to get down to about the ninth floor.
+ Michael Toepfer.
− They've got aluminum ladders in there.
+ "What we're hearing is faint knocking, tapping.
− They're bringing in jackhammers, shovels.
+ The last confirmation we had was about an hour ago."
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− They've also brought with them highly sensitive listening devices.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Speaking Spanish).
OTIS: When it's time to use them, a man with a bullhorn demands silence.
(SOUNDBITE OF WHISTLE BLOWING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: (Shouting in Spanish).
OTIS: Then the rescue team tries to communicate with the victims.
MICHAEL TOEPFER: We go through a series of commands, telling them, if you can hear me, tap or knock twice, three times.
OTIS: That's LA firefighter Michael Toepfer.
TOEPFER: And so what we're hearing are faint knocking, tapping.
+ Member of the Los Angeles County Fire Department stand on rubble of a collapsed building in La Guaira, Venezuela, Tuesday.
− The last confirmation we had was about an hour ago.
+ Matias Delacroix/AP hide caption
Although 24 to 72 hours is viewed as the key window of opportunity for rescuing survivors, Nichole Bosson, one of the team's doctors, says that under the right conditions, such as having access to food and water, victims can survive for longer periods.
− OTIS: I'm with them on Day 6 after the quake.
+ The Americas Venezuela's deadly quakes put its U.S.-backed government to the test "My first deployment was to Nepal.
− Nichole Bosson (ph), one of the team's doctors, says if they have food and water, victims can sometimes survive that long.
NICHOLE BOSSON: My first deployment was to Nepal.
+ The U.S.
− The USA teams had a rescue of a 14-year-old boy at five days.
+ aid teams had a rescue of a 14-year-old boy [after] five days," she says.
− And there's truly real belief that we can still pull out live victims, you know, if we're able to get to them.
+ Staring at the pile of rubble in front of her, she adds: "There's truly a real belief that we can still pull out live victims if we're able to get to them."
That's a big if.
− UNIDENTIFIED RESCUE WORKER #2: Up?
+ The girls were in apartment 908, three floors down from the roof.
− You going up?
+ In addition, the building was part of a public housing project infamous for shoddy construction. When the June 24 earthquakes struck, the building pancaked and now broken pieces of walls and roof expose white Styrofoam that was mixed with the concrete.
− UNIDENTIFIED RESCUE WORKER #3: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED RESCUE WORKER #2: OK.
OTIS: That's a big if.
+ Khaterine Roa cries as members of the Los Angeles County Fire Department search for survivors at a building that collapsed during the earthquakes that struck La Guaira, Venezuela, Tuesday.
− The girls were in apartment No.
+ Matias Delacroix/AP hide caption
During the quakes, the building was hit by another structure and twisted, making it even harder to navigate the ruins.
− 908, three floors down from the roof.
+ At one point, Khaterine Roa, the mother of the three girls, climbs onto the roof to try to guide the team to the apartment.
− In addition, the building twisted when it collapsed.
+ A few Venezuelan military officers show up to watch.
− Khaterine Roa, the mother of the girls, climbs onto the roof to try to guide the team to the girls' bedroom.
+ But Roa says her government has mostly been absent.
− UNIDENTIFIED RESCUE WORKER #4: Hey, guys.
+ By contrast, the LA firefighters, who arrived Monday and are part of the U.S. State Department's disaster response, have been working around the clock.
− KHATERINE ROA: (Speaking Spanish).
UNIDENTIFIED RESCUE WORKER #4: She's now seeing...
ROA: (Speaking Spanish).
OTIS: A few Venezuelan military officers show up to watch, but Roa says her government has mostly been AWOL.
+ "I am very grateful that the Americans are making such a big effort to rescue my daughters," Roa says.
− By contrast, the LA firefighters, who arrived Monday, have been working around the clock.
+ "I just hope they're still alive."
Still, the disaster will test the U.S. government's commitment to Venezuela.
− ROA: (Speaking Spanish).
+ Loading...
− OTIS: "I'm very grateful that the Americans are making such a big effort to rescue my daughters," she says.
+ At a news conference Wednesday, John Barrett, the chargé d'affaires at the U.S.
− "I just hope they're still alive."
The team seems to be getting close.
+ Embassy in Caracas, said the U.S. is leading the largest international earthquake response in Venezuela's history and that American assistance totals about $300 million. Besides search-and-rescue teams, the aid includes airlift and logistics capabilities as well as shelter, water and sanitation supplies.
− UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: (Speaking Spanish).
OTIS: One of the girls' cousins has been crawling into the tunnel to remove debris.
+ Global Health U.S.
− He says they've found clothes, toys and a set of darts that belongs to their family.
+ pledges millions in earthquake relief to Venezuela "The magnitude of this tragedy has been matched by the magnitude of the U.S. response," Barrett said.
− UNIDENTIFIED RESCUE WORKER #5: Stand back.
+ But in the wake of last year's shuttering of the U.S.
− Stand back (ph).
+ Agency for International Development, which for decades was Washington's clearing house for disaster assistance, it's unclear how well Washington will be able to respond over the long term, says Orlando Pérez, a Latin America expert at the University of North Texas at Dallas.
− OTIS: But now the sun is going down, and the ruins remain a confusing maze.
+ The international response in Venezuela has also included help from Switzerland to Syria, Chile, Mexico, Jordan and many other countries.
− DANIEL ALTRUZ: There's another tower that fell into it, so we're not sure if it's floor we're dealing with - ceiling, floor.
+ A Mexican team of rescuers continues the search for victims under the rubble of a building in Caraballeda, La Guaira, Venezuela, on Wednesday.
− So we have to cut through those layers in order to kind of get to where we think we're going.
+ Jesus Vargas/Getty Images hide caption
But the U.S. now plays an outsize role in the beleaguered South American country, which has vast oil resources.
− OTIS: That's firefighter Daniel Altruz.
ALTRUZ: We still have the tapping from the patient, but it's just so hard to pinpoint their location.
OTIS: Darkness falls.
+ Venezuela and U.S.
− Then, sometime after midnight, the tapping sound stops, so now the focus will shift to retrieving the girls' bodies.
+ relations Venezuela: Maduro's enforcer Cabello still central to power The Trump administration has been working closely with acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez, who replaced authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro after he was seized by U.S.
− But there's one bit of good news.
+ forces in January.
− Nearby, a search team from Jordan has rescued a 2-year-old boy who was trapped for six days in the rubble.
+ Rather than prioritizing a democratic transition, the White House has focused on getting the country's degraded oil industry back up and running and has fully backed Rodríguez, even though she has many pro-Maduro hard-liners in her government.
Now, in the wake of President Trump's controversial decision to attack Iran, Pérez says: "Trump needs Venezuela to be seen as a success."
Phil Gunson, who is based in Caracas for the International Crisis Group, a think tank focused on promoting peace and preventing wars, said that since Maduro was removed, the U.S.
− He is now recovering in a Venezuelan hospital.
+ government has controlled the flow of Venezuela's oil revenue — the source of more than 90% of its export income — which makes Washington even more responsible for Venezuela's future.
− For NPR News, I'm John Otis in Caraballeda, Venezuela.
+ At the collapsed building in Caraballeda, the team from LA is tunneling its way closer to the girls. One of their relatives, who has been removing debris from the tunnel, says they've found clothes, toys and a set of darts that belong to their family.
− (SOUNDBITE OF BRAMBLES' "IN THE ANDROGYNOUS DARK") Copyright © 2026 NPR.
+ But the sun is going down and the ruins remain a confusing maze.
"There's another tower that fell into it.
− All rights reserved.
+ So, we're not sure if it's floor we're dealing with or ceiling.
− Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
+ So, we have to cut through those layers in order to kind of get to where we think they're going," says Daniel Altruz, another LA firefighter.
− Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary.
+ "We still have the tapping from the patient but it's just so hard to pinpoint their location."
Eventually, the sun goes down.
− Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio.
+ The team keeps working but sometime after midnight the tapping sounds stop.
− Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication.
+ Now, the focus will shift to recovering the girls' bodies.
But there has been a bit of good news.
Nearby, on Tuesday, a search team from Jordan rescued a 2-year-old boy who was trapped for six days in the rubble.
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+ He was taken to a hospital to recover.
And on Thursday, the State Department said rescuers from Los Angeles County, Miami and teams from different countries pulled another survivor to safety.
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