Seven Children, 19 Women Among 146 Venezuelan Deportees Feared Dead After Quake Flattens Government Lodging

Emergency rescue crews in La Guaira are racing against time following a devastating natural disaster that struck just hours after a US repatriation flight landed. A massive earthquake completely levelled a local holding facility, trapping dozens of newly arrived individuals beneath the rubble. As families desperately await updates, authorities face growing questions over why the vulnerable group was placed directly in harm's way.

More than 100 individuals recently repatriated by the US were inside a lodging facility when powerful tremors struck Venezuela, triggering a desperate rescue operation to locate survivors and victims trapped beneath the wreckage.

Repatriation Flight Lands Before Disaster

Hours before Wednesday's seismic activity, a repatriation flight from Miami touched down in Venezuela. Data from the tracking initiative ICE Flight Monitor, run by Human Rights First, confirmed the aircraft was carrying 146 nationals, including 19 women and seven children. Upon arrival, the group was transferred to a lodging facility in La Guaira.

Survivors Describe Scenes of Panic

Lisbeth Portillo, 58, recounted escaping the collapsed lodging facility alongside roughly 20 other returnees, who then wandered the streets in search of assistance. They witnessed residents fleeing, some without clothes or shoes, as they climbed from the wreckage of the structure in La Guaira — a region severely affected by Wednesday's 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude tremors.

'I walked about five kilometres, and I cried and cried ... there was no communication,' Portillo said in a phone interview from her home in Maracaibo, Venezuela.

The group eventually reached a National Guard facility, allowing them to contact family members.

'I was born again; God gave me a second chance,' said Portillo. 'I am traumatised,' she said after a pause, weeping.

Official figures from the Venezuelan administration indicate that the death toll has surpassed 1,700.

Trump's Deportation Drive Expands

Portillo became caught up in the Donald Trump administration's aggressive campaign for large-scale removals. During May, the ICE Flight Monitor programme logged 288 repatriation services across 38 countries, with destinations including Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chile and the Ivory Coast.

In May, the US carried out 12 repatriation operations to Venezuela, running three times a week, according to ICE Flight Monitor data. These removal services to the country resumed in February 2025 following a 13-month suspension.

Seconds Before the Building Fell

According to Portillo, officials escorted the group to Hotel Santuario La Llanada to undergo medical assessments and receive identity papers. Authorities informed them they would be allowed to return to their families the following day.

Portillo was sharing a second-floor room with 16 other women. After stepping onto a balcony overlooking the ocean, she noticed a blackened sky and felt intense heat. She returned inside, lay down on a mattress and suddenly felt the structure beneath her begin to shudder.

'I started hearing 'papa, papa papapa', and I saw the women next to me start to fall,' she said, describing the noises produced by the tremor. 'They were all screaming for help.'

Almost instantly, the subsequent tremor struck.

'I fell and ended up buried and covered by a beam, but the shaking shifted everything where I was buried and I was able to get out,' said Portillo, who has bruises all over her body.

Families Still Waiting for Answers

While US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has maintained its silence, a video shared online by the Venezuelan administration showed deportees being met by local officials following their arrival at Caracas airport on Wednesday.

In an interview with Telemundo, 24-year-old Jenny Rodriguez confirmed she was among the passengers on the flight and had been transferred to the property.

'I was trapped under the rubble. A colleague who had been on the same flight came by; I managed to free my hand from the debris, grabbed him by the trousers, and begged for help,' she said. 'Thanks to God — and to him — I was able to get out of there.'

Liliana Rojas told Telemundo she is searching for her 33-year-old partner. Staff at the Texas facility in El Paso, where he had been detained, would only confirm that he had been sent back.

'No one is giving an answer about anything,' Rojas said.