Venezuelan families 'dying slowly' in rat- and roach-infested homes

Carla (not real name) is seen at the room where she lives with her daughters and her father, which used to be a bathroom, at a shelter located in the basement of the Sudameris public building in Caracas. Photos: AFP

Sunlight cannot penetrate, the air is fetid and fellow residents include rats and cockroaches - but that's how 14 families are "dying slowly" in government accommodation in Venezuela's capital Caracas.

They live on the ground floor of a ministry building a stone's throw from the Miraflores presidential palace.