One month after earthquakes, Venezuelans still search for loved ones and answers

The worst day in Victor Calderon's life -- a month ago to the day -- unfolded while he was at sea. When the powerful twin earthquakes devastated Venezuela's northern coastline, the 49-year-old fisherman had been on the boat for 18 days and was told by radio that the building he and his family lived in had collapsed. When he got back to shore, a staggering 26 members of his family were gone.

The deaths of the members of the extended Calderon family - the youngest of Victor's grandchildren was just three-months-old - represent a fraction of the overall death toll in last month's disaster. More than 5,300 people are confirmed to have died in the quakes and more than 16,500 were injured, according to a tally updated almost daily by the government.

The government has not said how many people are still missing, but the figure is estimated to be in the tens of thousands. Rescue workers, volunteers and families are still pulling bodies from the rubble, even a month after the disaster.

"Every time they bring out a body, people begin to howl - screams that pierce the air," says Laura Barrios, a 47-year-old taxi driver who lost his own brother.

"We knew there were people who were alive, but because of the amount of debris and rubble in the way, we just couldn't physically get there in time," said one British firefighter who assisted in the immediate aftermath.

This week, the government of Delcy Rodriguez donated 200 homes to affected families. The overall need, though, may be 100 times higher. Reconstruction will take years and billions of dollars in investment -- the World Bank has estimated that the twin quakes caused $19.6bn ($14.7bn) in damage.

While she has the backing of the Trump administration, it is Washington which is in control of Venezuela's oil industry -- the main source of revenue in this oil-rich country -- so it is far from clear how the rebuild will unfold.

The BBC's Will Grant, reporting from La Guaira, notes that a month after the disaster, the sound of heavy machinery sifting through rubble is still the dominant sound in the coastal state. The question on everyone's mind, he reports, is simple: when will the help arrive?