PERSONAL STORY: Man digs through Venezuela quake debris searching for family

Venezuelan resident Juan Andrade has spent days searching through the ruins of a collapsed apartment building, hoping to find members of his family trapped beneath the debris after two powerful earthquakes struck the country.

The magnitude 7.2 tremor was followed 39 seconds later by a magnitude 7.5 mainshock, causing widespread destruction in La Guaira and Caracas.

Andrade, 27, said he was away from home when the earthquakes hit. Returning to the site, he found his apartment building reduced to rubble, with several relatives still believed to be inside.

"I found nothing but the tower here. My whole family is back there," Andrade said, listing his mother, sister, niece, daughter, brother-in-law and wife among those missing.

Working alongside volunteers, Andrade crawled through narrow tunnels beneath broken concrete slabs and used flashlights to search for survivors in the wreckage.

Although he is not a rescuer, Andrade said he helped pull nine people alive from the debris during the first two days after the disaster.

"I am not a rescuer, I am not a firefighter, I am not a paramedic," he said. "By the third day until now I haven't been able to pull anyone out alive, but my faith is still intact that I am going to get my family out."

He said reaching the area where he believes his relatives are trapped has proved extremely difficult, but that he has continued helping others whenever he hears calls for help.

"It is frustrating because I haven't been able to reach my family," Andrade said. "If I can't get my own out, I am going to get out the people I can get out."

Andrade said rescue efforts at the building had been limited, but vowed to continue searching.

"It has been quite hard and complex, but faith is the last thing to be lost," he said. "We are going to keep working here until we can get everything out, whether help comes or not."

Production: Reuters