Costa Rican firefighters returned home Sunday after completing a humanitarian rescue mission in Venezuela, where they helped emergency crews respond to damage caused by recent earthquakes. The Urban Search and Rescue team, known as USAR, landed at Juan Santamaría International Airport around 1:40 p.m. at Base 2. Outside the airport, Venezuelan citizens living in Costa Rica greeted the rescuers with flags, applause and messages of thanks.
The firefighters had traveled to Venezuela on June 27 as part of Costa Rica’s emergency response. The team worked in damaged areas where crews searched through rubble, inspected unstable structures and supported rescue operations after the earthquakes.
Firefighters were later taken to the Metropolitan North Fire Station, where they reunited with relatives after the international mission. The return came after Venezuelan authorities closed that phase of the rescue response under the protocol used for international emergency deployments.
Costa Rican authorities also continued preparing donated supplies for Venezuela. Fire stations across the country had received food, diapers for children and older adults, and other basic goods collected through a humanitarian campaign.
Those donations are being moved to the National Emergency Commission facilities in Pavas, where they will go through the next stage of logistics before shipment to Venezuela.
The mission gave Costa Rica a visible role in the regional response to the disaster. For the Venezuelans who gathered outside Juan Santamaría on Sunday, the arrival was also a public thank-you to the Costa Rican emergency crews who had traveled abroad to help during a crisis.
