One hundred forty-six Venezuelans deported from Texas landed in Caracas on June 24 — and were dead within hours. Powerful twin earthquakes struck while the deportees were being held under guard at a hotel, killing them before they could leave.
The group had been removed from the United States as part of ongoing deportation operations from Texas. Details on the specific hotel or its location within Venezuela weren’t immediately available, but the deportees were described as still under guard when the quakes hit.
The twin earthquakes — their exact magnitudes weren’t disclosed in early reports — struck with enough force to kill a significant number of people at the site. Venezuela sits near active fault lines in the southern Caribbean, a region prone to seismic events, though a strike of this scale is rare.
No survivor count or full casualty breakdown had been released as of June 30. It isn’t clear whether Venezuelan authorities or U.S. officials have commented publicly on the deaths. The circumstances of the guarded hotel — why the deportees remained there rather than being released — also haven’t been explained.
