3 min readJun 28, 2026 12:36 AM IST Tensions flared Saturday as desperation grew among anguished residents of the Venezuelan state of La Guaira, where rescuers and civilians searched for earthquake survivors amid a sharply rising death toll. Venezuela’s government said the number of people killed rose to 1,430 Saturday morning and families reported at least 68,900 people missing, three days after the one-two punch of 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes that devastated the South American nation. Venezuelans looking for loved ones and neighbors used shovels, heavy equipment, ropes and bare hands atop mounds of toppled concrete throughout La Guaira, one of the country’s hardest-hit states. Most of those digging were civilians who took search efforts into their own hands, and tensions peaked over inadequate response from the Venezuelan government, whose soldiers, firefighters, police and military cadets were evidently underprepared to respond to the tragedy. Frustration was only amplified by state efforts to project the image of a robust state response. “There’s a pile of bodies over there from last night. Newborn babies. Look what …