“I want them to give me a house for my children because I was left homeless. I was left with nothing,” said Yolismar Marin, 22, while sitting in a school serving as a shelter for victims of Saturday night’s floods.
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said 43 people had been confirmed killed in the disaster, while President Nicolas Maduro said earlier on state television as many as 100 may have died.Though electricity and cellphone coverage have been restored to the town of 73 000 people about 67 km southwest of the capital Caracas, it remains without running water, according to Reuters witnesses.
Government officials who visited Las Tejerias promised to recover all the houses and businesses affected. Also at the shelter was Gabriel Castillo, 32, who worked at a hairdressing salon. He told of his search for any sign of his mother in the destruction.He left home to see what was happening but his mother and aunt were still inside the house when it was buried by mud.On Tuesday housewife Jennifer Galindez, 46, buried her one-year-old granddaughter Estefania, who drowned after flood water swept into Galindez’s home.
“I felt like my world had collapsed,” said Segovia, 28, a nurse. “There’s no sign of my dad yet. We’re going to continue searching.”