Maduro Visits Site of Venezuela Landslide That Killed 34

The day after heavy floods destroyed the town of Las Tejerías in central Venezuela, President Nicolás Maduro walked among the mud and destruction through the most affected streets.

Residents followed the walk, and many urged him to see their destroyed homes, hoping to get word from the president himself that they will be aided.

Maduro got into a house affected by the floods, and from a balcony, he spoke to the crowd with a megaphone, promising that aid will come and that Las Tejerías will be rebuilt.

"All traders, all neighbours, rest assured that we will recover every last shop and house. For those who have lost their homes, we will build a new house for everyone," Maduro said from the balcony causing the crowd to cheer loudly with joy.

"May God hear you!", shouted a Tejerías resident to the president. "That's how it will be. Las Tejerías will rise from the ashes like the phoenix, and we will recover it," Maduro said.

The death toll from the mudslide caused by flooding and days of rain officially rose to 34 on Monday after Venezuelan authorities reported 12 new deaths in Las Tejerías.

The landslide also left more than 60 people missing, Maduro added.

According to Civil Protection figures, there is a record of 400 houses "completely destroyed" and another 757 with moderate to severe damage. Electricity service has been restored, it was reported.

The house Erika Quintero, a 34-years-old housewife, inherited from her mother was destroyed by the landslide.

The strength of the flood covered the house almost entirely, leaving the furniture outside the house, the fridge trapped in the ceiling and everything covered in debris and mud.

Quintero cries looking around the meter-deep mud soil the house has been left with.

"I have lived here for 32 years, and my mother all her life. This is what she left me, and now we have lost everything, but thank God I didn't lose my family."

Others lost much more. Magaly Colmenares rushed behind a crew of firefighters that carried the lifeless body of her seven-years-old grandson, Angel Senprum.

Magaly was devastated, crying for her "Angel", as she repeatedly called her grandson, but after two days since the tragedy, Colmenares said she was also relieved to find him.

"He was trapped with a man who tried to save him and his 3-month-old sister," said Colmenares to the Associated Press while running behind firefighters.

Colmenares later found her other grandchild, Angel's 3-month-old little sister as well.

Residents of Las Tejerías had barely seconds to get to safety on Saturday afternoon when large amounts of water, mud, debris, rocks and trees fell on them down the mountain slopes flanking the municipality of 54,000 people.

After the overflowing of five streams in some of the 23 affected sectors of Las Tejerías, the water level reached two meters (6.56 feet) high, as evidenced by the marks left on walls that remained standing.

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