President welcomes home Venezuela earthquake rescue team after life-saving mission

President António José Seguro praised the “courage, competence and solidarity” of the Portuguese emergency team that returned home yesterday after taking part in search and rescue operations following the devastating earthquakes in Venezuela.

The head of state met the 64-member joint operational force as they arrived at Beja Air Base, where he thanked them for representing “the very best Portugal has to offer” during their deployment to the disaster-stricken region of La Guaira.

“I want to welcome you home, express our pride in the mission you carried out and thank you for the way you carried it out,” the president told the members of the Portuguese Joint Operational Force (FOCON).

The team, made up of personnel from Portugal’s National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection (ANEPC), Lisbon’s Firefighters Regiment, the National Institute for Medical Emergencies (INEM), the National Republican Guard (GNR) and six search-and-rescue dogs, spent their mission in one of the regions hardest hit by the twin earthquakes.

Their rescue of a 44-year-old man, who had already been trapped under rubble for five days before the team reached him, was the absolute highlight of their deployment, in that they succeeded in saving a life that other rescuers had already considered ‘too logistically complicated’ to even attempt.

Said President Seguro: “Your expression of humanity and solidarity is an example of what the world needs. You took the best this country has to offer – courage, competence and solidarity – to help people at one of the most difficult moments of their lives.”

The president singled out the rescue of Hernán Gil Flores, who was finally pulled alive from his entombment after eight terrifying days.

“He was saved thanks to your bravery, courage and determination,” said Seguro. “He will always be grateful for your work and your solidarity, and we will always carry in our hearts the memory of the women and men, together with our search dogs, who gave their very best to save lives.”

President Seguro also acknowledged the families of the rescue workers, saying they had endured the mission “with anxious hearts” while waiting for news from Venezuela – and he praised the government for coordinating the humanitarian response “with great speed”, noting that its efforts had been recognised by the Venezuelan authorities.

The twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela on June 24, measuring magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5 less than a minute apart, killed at least 3,899 people and injured 16,740, according to the latest official figures. There were 110 Portuguese citizens and people of Portuguese descent among the dead (another 55 remain missing or unaccounted for).

Portugal was among several European Union countries that dispatched specialist search and rescue teams to Venezuela. The Portuguese mission was based in Catia la Mar, in La Guaira – home to one of the country’s largest Portuguese communities and, tragically, left almost beyond recogniseable.

Source material: LUSA

Natasha Donn

Journalist for the Portugal Resident.