Investigative outlet Bellingcat has geolocated social media footage showing coffins placed in large trenches at a newly cleared site beside the Municipal Cemetery of La Esperanza, a town near La Guaira on Venezuela's northern coast, following the country's recent devastating earthquakes. More than 3,500 deaths have been confirmed, though the UN warns the toll could reach 10,000, with overwhelmed morgues and complicated identification processes forcing authorities to improvise burial arrangements at scale. A forensic expert consulted by Bellingcat stressed that such common graves — used temporarily until identification can take place — differ from clandestine mass graves, and that proper mapping and documentation of each burial is critical to ensuring victims can eventually be identified.