Over 100 Venezuelan immigrants are reported missing after a hotel in La Guaira collapsed following two earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 in magnitude. The hotel was housing deportees who had arrived on a flight from Miami, which landed in Venezuela on Wednesday with 146 individuals on board.
Lisbeth Portillo, one of the deportees, stated that she and about 20 others managed to escape the collapse, while many others were trapped under the rubble. Portillo described her experience as traumatic and mentioned that they sought refuge in a nearby National Guard building to contact relatives.
As of Monday, the death toll from the earthquakes has exceeded 1,700, with many individuals still unaccounted for. The earthquakes struck Venezuela during a challenging period as the country attempts to recover from years of economic instability. Aid and rescue assistance have been provided by neighboring countries and the United States.
Venezuela has seen a significant number of deportation flights, particularly due to a high rate of illegal entries into the U.S. over the past decade. The country has experienced a major refugee crisis since the mid-2010s, driven by economic collapse and political turmoil under former leader Nicolás Maduro.