Deported Venezuelan man dies when Venezuelan detention hotel collapses in earthquake
Aug 18, 2026·Location: La Guaira, Venezuela
Country of origin: Venezuela

Eduardo José Osal Mujica, 32, crossed the Darién Gap into the U.S., turned himself in to immigration authorities, and applied for asylum while working installing roofs and driving for Uber, settling first in Denver and later Wyoming. Local police detained him during a traffic stop in Wyoming, after which he was transferred through detention facilities in Colorado, Arizona and Texas before signing a deportation order. He was among 146 Venezuelans deported on Flight 164, which landed in Maiquetía, Venezuela on June 24, after which he and other deportees were taken to the Negra Hipólita Health Hotel for medical checkups before planned release to their home cities. The hotel collapsed in an earthquake that day, killing an unknown number of deportees while in Venezuelan custody. His wife, Danielys Hurtado, spent five days searching for his body among bags of corpses at an improvised morgue in a converted grain-storage facility. Nearly two months later, the Venezuelan government has released no official information on those who died, with survivor estimates ranging between 12 and 32.
Timeline
Sources
- More than 100 Venezuelans who were deported from the US hours before the earthquakes are missing
Associated Press·Jun 29, 2026·archived copy
- No justice for the passengers of Flight 164: Deported by Trump, detained by Venezuela, killed in the earthquake
english.elpais.com·Aug 18, 2026·archived copy
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