Anguished families left to identify Venezuela quake victims at makeshift morgue

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, making identification difficult.

Families search for any trace that might help identify their loved ones – a tattoo, a bracelet, a piece of clothing, or an item from their home.

Sometimes there is a pause, a moment of hope. The two workers scrolling through the photos on an iPad zoom in on teeth, tattoos, or scars.

In front of one of the screens, a woman bursts into tears as she recognises her son thanks to a dusty blanket. Another woman, a stranger, embraces her.

A phone rings and breaks the silence.

A young man whispers into the phone that he is trying to identify his mother. But he says the state of the bodies is making it difficult.

“This is like a horror movie,” Liliana González, a 60-year-old resident of Catia La Mar, says as she leaves.

She had come to look for her aunt, but in the end identified her 37-year-old nephew by his tattoo.

“He wasn’t on the list,” she says. “I had to look at the images.”

“I saw my mum when she died, but this… this isn’t the same.”