Earthquake in Venezuela scrambles search for more than 100 deportees reportedly held in La Guaira hotel

More than a day after earthquakes struck Venezuela, rescuers and family members were trying to determine the fate of more than 100 people reportedly deported from the United States who had been staying in a hotel in La Guaira when the quake hit, according to survivors cited by The Guardian on June 29, 2026. The report said the victims were among people brought to Venezuela on a deportation flight from Miami that arrived hours before the earthquakes.

The Guardian reported that survivors described chaotic conditions at the hotel once the shaking began, with people trapped in rubble and relatives separated during the immediate response. The quake damage, the report said, set off a scramble to locate survivors and recover bodies from the collapsed structure.

The missing group, the report said, included people recently removed from the United States on an ICE flight and held in the La Guaira hotel. The account described how the timing of the deportation and housing arrangements complicated emergency efforts, as local responders focused on structural collapse while people inside the facility were attempting to communicate with relatives and identify themselves.

The report said the flight from Miami arrived in Venezuela hours before Wednesday’s earthquakes. It did not specify, in the supplied summary, whether the passengers were held under any medical watch or whether the hotel’s occupancy was known to local authorities prior to the quake.

International aviation and immigration removals typically involve coordination among U.S. agencies and Venezuelan counterparts, and the report pointed to the practical consequences of that coordination on the ground when a natural disaster occurs. The Guardian’s account framed the unfolding search as particularly urgent because the people involved were new arrivals under U.S. removal processes and had limited time to establish contact outside the hotel.

As information continues to emerge from the disaster area, the central questions for authorities are likely to be how many of the deportees were in the hotel at the time of the quake, whether any were transferred elsewhere before the earthquakes struck, and how identities will be confirmed among victims found in the rubble. The Guardian report said survivors were attempting to help locate missing people and clarify what happened after the collapse.

In the next phase of the response, officials and families will likely rely on injury and death registries, hospital intake records, and identification procedures tied to disaster victim recovery. For the deportation process itself, the case is also likely to renew scrutiny of detention and holding arrangements for removed individuals ahead of transfer when severe weather or sudden hazards may arise.