Fear people evacuated from the US to Venezuela hours before the earthquake | Stories About Earthquakes

The manhunt for the fugitives from the US continues in the wake of the hotel where they were taken in the Venezuelan city of La Guaira.

The United States evacuated more than 140 people to Venezuela on the same day two earthquakes rocked the country, and rescue teams are now searching for survivors in the ruins of a hotel where they were kept, according to survivors.

A flight from Miami arrived in Venezuela a few hours before the June 24 earthquake, the Associated Press (AP) reported on Monday.

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There were 146 Venezuelans on board, including 19 women and seven children, according to ICE Flight Monitor, a program of Human Rights First, which tracks US-deported flights.

Lisbeth Portillo, one of the evacuees, told the AP that she fled the rubble of a hotel in the city of La Guaira with about 20 others and walked the streets looking for help.

When he came out of the destruction, he saw people running, some naked and some barefoot, through La Guaira, one of the areas most affected by the 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes.

The Venezuelan government says more than 1,700 people have been killed by earthquakes across the country.

“We walked about 5km (3.1 miles), and I cried and cried… There was no communication,” Portillo said.

The group arrived at a National Guard home where they were able to call relatives, he said.

“I was born again; God gave me a second chance,” Portillo said.

Portillo said he was standing on the balcony of the hotel where evacuees were taken when he heard the first tremor.

“I started to hear the words ‘papa, papa, papa’, and I saw the women next to me start to fall,” he said while describing the sound of the earthquake. “They were all screaming for help.”

And almost at the same time, a second earthquake struck.

A video posted by the Venezuelan government on social media showed images of the deportees being greeted by Venezuelan authorities upon their arrival at Caracas airport.

As part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts, ICE Flight Monitor tracked 288 deportation flights to 38 countries in May, including Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chile and the Ivory Coast.

The US launched 12 airstrikes against Venezuela that month, according to the monitor.

Jenny Rodriguez told the Telemundo network that she was on an evacuation trip and was taken to a hotel.

“I was trapped under the debris. A friend of mine who was on the same plane passed by. I managed to free my hand from the debris, grabbed him by the pants, and asked for help,” he said.

“Thanks to God, and to him, I was able to get out of it.”

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the AP.

Many of those aboard last week’s evacuation flight from Miami are now feared to be among the victims of the earthquake.