The four members of Venezuelan nu metal band Van Der Dijs are among the 1,700 confirmed dead after the north of the country was shaken by two earthquakes on Wednesday (June 23).
According to Venezuelan news site Últimas Noticias, the band members died after their rehearsal space in La Guaira, a state on the country’s northern coast, collapsed in the quakes, which had a magnitude of 7.2 and 7.5 and struck within 39 seconds of each other.
Almost 800 buildings collapsed overall, before a magnitude 4.6 aftermath rocked both La Guaira and the national capital of Caracas on Monday (June 29).
Van Der Dijs consisted of singer Manuel van Der Dijs, guitarist Gabriel Gómez, bassist Xander Hernández and drummer Abraham Foucault. The four’s bodies were discovered by rescue teams in the rubble of the Costamar II building in Tanaguarena, one of the districts most affected by the quakes.
The band formed in 2024 and released their first single, Nemesis, later the same year. They released six further singles, the latest being this year’s 15 Minutos. They were in the middle of a short string of Venezuelan shows, having sold out a gig at the Modern Art Center in La Castellana, Caracas on June 19. They were booked to return to the stage in Punto Fijo on June 27 and Valencia on August 8.
Venezuela is still reeling from the disaster, with tens of thousands missing and millions more lacking sanitation and other necessities as rescue teams continue to search for survivors. A firefighter in Caraballeda told the BBC on Sunday (June 28) that “there aren’t enough hands” to deal with the devastation, “and it is very, very likely that there are still people trapped”.
The Venezuelan government has been criticised for its slow response to the quakes. According to The Guardian, acting president Delcy Rodríguez was heckled by locals while touring one badly hit part of Caracas. “The government isn’t doing anything for the people!” one onlooker reportedly shouted.
The paper also reported that bodies were being taken to a Caracas mortuary on motorcycles, in the backs of cars and on the load beds of pickup trucks.
Venezuela is receiving international aid as it recovers. As of Monday, 24 nations had reportedly sent a combined 521 tons of supplies and more than 2,700 search-and-rescue personnel. The UN says physical repairs will cost 6.7 billion USD, and the US has announced that it is doubling its aid package from 150 million USD to 300 million.
