At one of the pancaked private buildings, in the coastal town of Catia La Mar, an unlikely rescue took place eight days after the earthquakes struck.

From beneath the concrete slabs, a security guard, Hernán Gil, was pulled out alive from an underground car park.

The jubilant scenes briefly lifted Venezuela's spirits.

Today, Laura Barrios continues to search in the same building for her brother-in-law, whose body remains trapped in the same subterranean car park.

Most of the international crews that rallied for Gil have long since gone home and now even the earthmover, which was clearing the unstable debris, has been sent to another site.

The news that Laura's family are searching on their own again came a day after they located the bodies of her sister-in-law and the children, aged 10 and three, huddled together in their bedroom.

"The other day was the Day of the Child in Venezuela," Laura sobs. "But we have no children to celebrate. Ours are gone."

She has been furious at the authorities for reacting slowly.

But she says the news that the heavy machinery is pulling out when her family still needs it has sapped her of the will to fight.

"What more can we say that this rubble doesn't already tell us?" she asks, looking at the devastation surrounding us.

"Lost T-shirts, cutlery that was never used, crockery sets, toys. Entire lives, gone in just 39 seconds."

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