Chaos and horror still persist in Venezuela after two earthquakes, with 7.2 and 7.5 magnitudes, hit the country last week.
The death toll has crossed the 1,700 mark as rescue efforts escalate to find the missing residents and possible survivors under the rubble of collapsed infrastructure.
Several states have been affected by the shocking earthquakes, but the greatest concentration of casualties has been reported in La Guaira state and Caracas. Around 2,500 structures were damaged, many of which have collapsed entirely.
Deported Venezuelans missing after earthquakes
Families in Venezuela are mourning and desperately searching for their loved ones who were deported from the US and arrived in the country just hours before the earthquakes struck last Wednesday.
The deportees were being processed at the Hotel Santuario La Llanada in the coastal state of La Guaira, one of the hardest-hit areas.
According to ICE Flight Monotor, an initiative of Human Rights First to track deportation flights, 146 Venezuelans were on board the flight from Miami, including 19 women and seven children.
The country's main airport, Simón Bolivar International Airport, is in La Guaira, where the Hotel Santuario La Llanada collapsed.
Besides missing deportees, some have passed away following the powerful earthquakes, as families struggle to obtain confirmed information about their loved ones' fate.
Katherine Arana, a Venezuelan American from Greenville, South Carolina, who is a friend of missing deportee Núñez Ramírez, said that amid the lack of information, she created a spreadsheet to keep track of the deportees on the flight.
According to Arana, at least 25 deportees were killed, with 21 confirmed missing. She also said some bodies recovered from the rubble had not been identified.
Trump administration's deportation plans
Since President Donald Trump took office for the second time, the US has increased its drive for mass deportations.
In May, ICE Flight Monitor tracked 288 deportation flights to 38 countries, including Ivory Coast, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chile, and Burkina Faso.
As per Lisbeth Portillo, one of the deportees who survived the earthquake, the authorities took everyone to the Hotel Santuario La Llanda, where they underwent medical exams and got identification documents and were told they would go home the next day.
Aftershocks hit Venezuela amid horrifying tragedy
Around 500 aftershocks have been recorded since the initial earthquakes, including a 5.2-magnitude quake in the early hours of Monday.
The actual number of dead and injured has been rising since the devastating disaster hit Venezuela, as it was reported that the death toll on Monday, June 29, was 1,719 with 5,034 injured.
International aid following earthquakes
More than 2,000 rescue workers from 27 countries, along with over 160 search dogs, are currently deployed across more than 40 teams.
The United Nations estimated that around 50,000 people are missing since the earthquakes and that around seven million people might have been impacted by the earthquakes.
The agency said it had examined available population and damage data and had determined that "up to 6.76 million people could be affected by the devastating earthquakes that struck Venezuela on 24th June".
About the Venezuela earthquakes
A 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck Venezuela on Wednesday evening, causing buildings and homes to sway in the capital of Caracas.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the quake's epicentre was located about 28 kilometres (17 miles) west of the community of Moron, located along the county's Caribbean coast.
Just 39 seconds later, a second "main" earthquake of magnitude 7.5 hit the same area, with a depth of 10 kilometres.
Many Venezuelans were at home when the earthquake hit due to a holiday commemorating an 1821 military victory which secured Venezuela's independence from Spain.
