Incident Code
Incident Code
Incident Date
Location
Geolocation
Geolocation
Airwars Assessment
Two civilians, reportedly air traffic control employees, were killed in their car near the Oscar Machado Zoluaga Airport in Charallave, Venezuela by an alleged U.S. airstrike early in the morning on January 3, 2026. The airstrikes reportedly occurred during U.S. operations to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
According to @venezuelast on Telegram, two people were killed after a bomb hit their car near the Oscar Machado Zoluaga Airport during the “aerial bombardment carried out by U.S. troops”. At least two people were reportedly burned to death in a white Arauca car. The Telegram post included two graphic videos showing a car in flames and the remains of the victims.
@venezuelanews21 posted an additional video on Telegram which showed a street sign indicating “Charallave” and “Caracas Maracay”, and then panned over to a white vehicle down the street in flames. The post indicated “civilians killed” in US airstrikes while stating that the official death toll was unknown at the time. Colombian President @petrogustavo later reposted the video on Twitter/X indicating “civilian victims”. There was no additional information found among local sources about the victims.
On January 6th, Aeronoticiasve reported on Facebook that Lenin Ramírez Osorio and Eduardo Soto (Libre), Air Traffic Controllers at Oscar Machado Zoluaga Airport, were both killed in the vicinity of the airport terminal. According to Aeronoticiasve, after bombing was reported in Caracas, airport personnel were instructed to evacuate the airport and while entering the highway, the vehicle was reportedly struck by a missile during the “strategic bombing campaign against airport infrastructure”. Runrun News corroborated the names of the victims while providing context that they had both just finished their shift and Soto Libre was getting into Ramírez Osorio’s car when the missile struck.
The location of the footage of the burning car was geolocated by Bellingcat and posted on Bluesky.
Where sources identified a belligerent, all sources attributed the attack to U.S. forces.
Assessment Updates
Geolocation Notes
Reports of the incident mention a strike in the vicinity of the Oscar Machado Zoluaga Airport in Charallave. This incident was independently geolocated by Dominik (@99Dominik_). Satellite imagery shows the strike location at the following exact coordinates: 10.286675, -66.853896.

Imagery: @99Dominik_

Imagery: @99Dominik_
