Hotel housing over 100 US deportees collapses in Venezuela quake, families say

A hotel housing more than 100 Venezuelans recently deported from the United States collapsed during the deadly earthquakes that struck Venezuela on June 24, according to family members who spoke to ABC News.

A repatriation flight from the U.S. arrived in Venezuela at around 10 a.m. on June 24, according to a group that tracks deportation flights. A Venezuelan government official said 146 people were on board.

Family members said many of the deportees, including several families, were taken to the Hotel Santuario La Llanada.

The daughter of 47-year-old Rosvelis Boscan Chacin said she spoke to her father after he arrived in Venezuela.

“He called me at 3 p.m. asking for my address, but he said [the government] wouldn’t be taking him to my home that same day,” she said.

“He was the pillar of our family, a father to seven kids,” she added.

Luisa Quintero told ABC News that her aunt, Johana Pineda, her husband, Richard Pereira, and their son, Richi, were on the flight from the United States.

Quintero said her aunt and seven-year-old cousin survived the hotel collapse, but Pereira was killed.

She said her relatives, who had been living in Tennessee since 2023 while seeking asylum, were detained during a routine check-in with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and placed on a repatriation flight two days later.

“I found out they were in Venezuela because I saw my little cousin in a video the government posted,” she said in Spanish.

Quintero said her aunt and younger cousin suffered minor injuries in the collapse.

“My aunt is devastated and my little cousin is traumatized,” she said.

Venezuelan officials said at least 1,719 people were killed and 5,034 others injured after two powerful earthquakes measuring magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 struck the country's coast on June 24. The quakes brought down buildings in the capital, Caracas, and prompted residents to flee into the streets.

Rescue teams continue searching for people believed to be trapped beneath the rubble.

By Aghakazim Guliyev