Anguished families left to identify Venezuela quake victims at makeshift morgue

Image source, AFP via Getty Images Image caption, Families face long waits at a port facility transformed into a morgue in La Guaira By Norberto Paredes BBC News Mundo , Reporting from La Guaira, Venezuela Published 19 minutes ago Warning: This story contains distressing details At a port storage facility transformed into a makeshift morgue in La Guaira, the same scene repeats itself again and again. Families - many of whom have already spent days searching hospitals, shelters and rubble - wait hours to try and confirm the deaths of their loved ones. As the death toll of Venezuela's twin earthquakes surpasses 2,600, officials face the challenge of not only recovering victims, but identifying them. The scale of the disaster has overwhelmed local services, forcing institutions to improvise. With little infrastructure left standing nine days after the tremors, bodies have been put outside or in temporary tents. Under the blazing sun, dozens of families wait with a mixture of anguish and dread. Image source, BBC Mundo Image caption, Families try to identify their loved ones from images cycling across two television screens Rows of chairs have been placed inside and outside Los Silos, where sadness is contagious. No one speaks. Some stare blankly into space, others check their phones, reading the news or answering messages. Just a few metres away, armed personnel from the Bolivarian Armed Forces control access to the site. "I'm afraid of what I'm going to see in there, but it's the only way to end this agony," a woman says before passing through the gate. She has been searching for her nephew for nearly a week. "I've looked for him everywhere: in the building, in the hospitals, I've spoken to everyone… and no one knows anything." Image source, BBC Mundo Image caption, Medical and forensic personnel work alongside bodies, covered with plastic bags Inside, the smell of decomposition is the first thing that greets you. Some family members cover their mouths with their hands. Most wear cloth masks, which offer little relief. Within minutes, many stop reacting. They seem to grow used to it. Nearby, hundreds of bodies lie in rows, wrapped in plastic bags and exposed to the sun. In the sweltering heat, decomposition is rapid. The bodies are arranged according to when they were recovered. At one end of the site, a tent offers free cremation services. At the other, forensic specialists use dental records to help identify victims whose bodies have become difficult to recognise. Families face two options. Those who think they can identify a loved one by their clothing are taken to one area. Most relatives, however, are directed to two television screens. There, a different ordeal begins. Image source, BBC Mundo Image caption, Liliana González managed to identify her 37-year-old nephew by his tattoo More than 1,000 images of bodies flash across the screens in a sequence that feels endless. Many are swollen, have darkened skin or bear the marks of injuries, ma