Before Venezuela, Major General Pham Van Ty, Deputy Director of the Department of Rescue and Relief, General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army, led a delegation to participate in overcoming the consequences of earthquakes in Turkey (in 2023) and Myanmar (in 2025).
Talking right at the scene in the Playa Grande area, La Guaira state - the locality most heavily damaged in the double earthquake disaster in Venezuela, Major General Pham Van Ty said that conditions in each country are different. While Turkey has cold weather, Myanmar and Venezuela have hot sunshine.
Emphasizing that the most serious double earthquake disaster in more than a century in Venezuela has claimed thousands of lives, Major General Pham Van Ty noted that in hot weather conditions, many victims' bodies are buried in rapidly decomposing rubble.
At the scene of the search, the atmosphere was thick with the smell of corpses. Initially, there were times when the members of the Vietnamese delegation wore up to 3 masks and rubbed with medicated oil, but when entering the collapsed construction sites, they could only withstand about 10-15 minutes and had to take turns coming out," Major General Pham Van Ty shared.
According to Major General Pham Van Ty, that reality also helps the delegation draw more experience when performing tasks. The important thing is still psychological preparation, considering the search for victims as searching for their loved ones, then they will be able to perform tasks in harsh conditions, directly affecting their health.
Since then, in recent days, the delegation has been constantly racing against time, striving to find as many victims as possible to contribute to alleviating the pain of their families after days of waiting for news as well as alleviating the pain of the people and the country of Venezuela in general.
With a large number of collapsed high-rise buildings, harsh weather, and continuous tremors, Major General Pham Van Ty assessed that compared to Turkey and Myanmar, performing this task in Venezuela is "the most difficult and dangerous".
For all locations at the scene where the Vietnamese delegation is conducting searches for victims, international rescue teams have previously arrived and they all find it difficult to implement. But with the spirit of responsibility to fulfill international obligations and especially Vietnam's feelings for Venezuela, the delegation does not mind difficulties and dangers," Major General Pham Van Ty affirmed.
Expressing agreement with Major General Pham Van Ty's sharing, Colonel Pham Hung Duong, Deputy Director of the Fire and Rescue Police Department, Ministry of Public Security, Deputy Head of the Vietnamese delegation, added that along with difficulties and dangers, the Vietnamese delegation also encountered advantages in the process of participating in overcoming the consequences of the earthquake in Venezuela.
That is the spirit of responsibility of all officers and soldiers, experience from performing humanitarian assistance and disaster relief tasks abroad, close coordination between the army and police forces, and favorable conditions created by the Venezuelan side.
