Two years have passed since that fateful December 28th, 2020 when a chain explosion of more than 160 gas cylinders forever changed the lives of the inhabitants of the “Caño Los Becerros” township, a hamlet located in the Piar Municipality, about an hour and forty minutes from Maturín, capital of Monagas State.
By La Patilla – Jefferson Civira
Dec 28, 2022
The tragedy claimed the lives of nine people and left 28 survivors who recount the nightmare they have lived through, and who continue to suffer today after the physical and psychological consequences that marked them for life.
This unfortunate event occurred after the inhabitants of the hamlet protested by closing the main road to demand the distribution of domestic cooking gas that they had not received for 10 months. Paradoxically, on December 28th, the Day of the Holy Innocents in the Roman Catholic calendar, the company Gases Maturín C.A. (Gasmaca) attached to the Monagas State Government, took a truck with gas cylinders to be distributed in the community but in breach of several security measures. This is why the propane bottles were dispatched to the house of one of the people in charge of “CLAP” (National Government Food Assistance Program).
Several of the neighbors perceived a strong smell of gas which, according to their own testimonies, was caused by the fact that the cylinders had been overfilled. Fifteen minutes after all the cylinders had been unloaded and after the Gasmaca truck had left the place, what nobody could have foreseen happened: a strong explosion caused a chain reaction, just as if it were an atomic bomb. Several children and adults suffered burns up to third degree.
Some of the survivors today tell Lapatilla.com a heartbreaking reality: they have been forgotten and defrauded by officials of Nicolás Maduro’s regime, who promised to build at least 28 houses for the same number of survivors. They also gave their word to finance the expensive treatments they require for the serious injuries these people suffered in the accident. None of the supposed help has ever materialized.
Maryuri Ramos, daughter of one of those who died in the explosion, with a broken voice and tears running down her face, narrated that two years after what happened, it is very difficult to overcome this terrible event. She affirms that, since then, representatives of Chavismo have come to offer help and support to relatives of the deceased and survivors.
“Former Governor Yelitze Santaella promised to build 28 homes for those affected, which never happened. The only house they rebuilt was the one affected by the explosion. A lot of medical help is needed here, since they promised to create an outpatient clinic, but there is nothing there. They said they would send specialist doctors like dermatologists, traumatologists, surgeons and ophthalmologists, but there is only one general practitioner doctor who comes twice a week. The Gasmaca company, which should have been made responsible for what happened, has not shown its face,” Ramos said.
After agonizing for just over 15 days, her mother died in a hospital in Ciudad Bolívar on January 15th, 2021. The severity of the burns did not allow her to survive. “What they promised, they never fulfilled. They have practically forgotten about us,” she exclaimed.
She Would Never Observe Christmas Again
For Yamileth Romero, it is perhaps more painful to remember that horrible event, since she lost two of her children: one was 9 years old, and the female, 12 years old. Both ended up with third degree burns in a large part of their little bodies. Although they were taken to the Ciudad Bolívar hospital, she questions that the transfer was by land when they needed to be taken by air, as the transfer was complicated and the delicate health condition of both and the poor condition of the roads.
She recalled those moments when her son was in the hospital and pleaded to her that he did not want to die. Perhaps aware of what was happening, she told him that she would never observe Christmas and December 31st (New Year’s Eve) again. Her daughter, while she was convalescing, told her that she wanted to be a doctor, even to the doctors who treated her, she expressed her wish that she wanted to be like them.
Franklin Gil, another survivor of the tragedy, assured that sadness is what has been experienced in “Caño Los Becerros” for the last two years. In his case, he has suffered deep grief over the death of five cousins.
For Franklin, the scars left on his skin by the burns remind him not only of the fateful moment of the explosion of the gas cylinders, but also of the abandonment they have suffered from Chavismo.
The survivors themselves have paid for their treatments, since neither the government of Monagas nor the company responsible have complied with the promised help. Franklin criticized the fact that the chavista governor Ernesto Luna has not even visited the village “at least, to find out how the people who survived are doing.”
Unkept Promises
It was learned that 25 of the survivors of the tragedy require pressure garments, which are part of the treatment for their rehabilitation. However, due to the high costs of this medical device, none of those affected have been able to buy them. This was stated by Yaney Gil, mother of a young survivor, who is presenting keloids (thickened and raised scar on the skin).
The boy must use expensive creams and sunscreen for life. The latter, because it is specially formulated for patients with severe burns, can cost 50 dollars, to which medicines must be added to avoid infections.
“We feel cheated, because the authorities only come to promise and offer things, but they don’t comply. Here the main request of the relatives of survivors is that they send specialist doctors who can care for those affected. This is a township that lives from agriculture, humble people. There are already some who are presenting vision problems. Where are we going to get to pay for a dermatologist or an ophthalmologist?” Denounced Gil.
With marked scars on his body, Crismar Zapata, cannot expose himself to the sun, but it is inevitable not to: he must support his children. He works in one of the cleaning crews of the mayor’s office. He assures us that they don’t even know the Chavista governor.
“The organization Cáritas de Venezuela in Monagas State is the only one that has given us support with medical days and a psychologist to help those affected. Gasmaca never took responsibility for the accident, only the mayor’s office began delivering aid to the survivors to the amount of 200 bolivars (about $13.00 U.S.), which was gradually reduced until it reached 50 bolivars a month ($3.22 a month). What they have done is politicize this whole tragedy,” criticized Zapata.
Graciela Gil, an elderly woman, was left with marks on her legs and back pain, while her husband must use crutches after the tragedy. She was one of the few whom the regime gave an air conditioner and they helped them with some mattresses, which have more springs than rubber foam.
“I will never forget what happened that day when the truck arrived and the recharged bottles were unloaded. There was a strong smell of gas, and I mentioned it to one of the Gasmaca workers, who told me that this was normal. After the truck left, the first explosion in the sequence started. I’m telling it as a joke, because my back, my hair, and my legs were burned. Now I suffer from back pain and the itching is sometimes horrible. A cream can cost at least 5 dollars, and those of us who live here are low-income people, so we don’t receive dermatological treatment,” Graciela pointed out.
“It is very sad not to be able to hug my grandchildren”
For some of the survivors, it is very painful to remember what happened in 2020. Some, because of the injuries suffered on their bodies, are very sad not to be able to hug their children and grandchildren. Several have been unable to work because they cannot be exposed to the sun. They can’t go to a beach or a river which are recreational activities that now are part of the past. In certain cases. They have gone from being independent people to having to live on the support of their relatives.
“From that moment on, our lives changed completely. We can practically do nothing, and what we have left is to continue fighting. Before I did not depend on anyone, now I have to depend on my children. I can’t sleep peacefully like before, every moment you have to stop to apply creams, because the itching is horrible. Two years after the tragedy, for me it is very sad not to be able to hug my children and grandchildren, because it hurts, I have to be careful so they don’t hurt me and we live with traumas: any scream or something, one gets scared. This for me has been a horror movie,” described with evident pain Yaneth Marcano, another of the survivors.
In view of the high prices of the treatments, those affected have chosen to use “natural medicines” to try to alleviate a little the intense pain that, on occasions, they present due to keloids. Some have used “jobo water” (a tropical fruit), goat tallow, salt water grains and aloe vera at night.
Although their hopes have faded over the months, the survivors send a last cry for help to the Governor of Monagas, Ernesto Luna, as well as to the President of the Gasmaca company, Marcel Salazar, so that they fulfill their obligations and promises and really help those affected.
In Caño Los Becerros there are many houses built of “bahareque” (reed frames and mud). Due to the health condition of those who, by the hand of God, were able to save themselves in the explosion, homes with air-conditioned areas are required, which would allow them to bear the consequences of the burns on their bodies with less pain… Burns that also eat away at their souls, because after two years of the tragedy, the survivors are still forgotten and abandoned.
…
Read More: La Patilla – With terror on the surface, survivors of the gas explosion in Monagas ask for help two years after the tragedy
…