Explosions erupted during the night in eastern Caracas, and Mariana Camargo, 21, said she dashed through the streets as blasts boomed in the background.
She said it was 2:05 in the morning when the sounds rose and she ran for safety, while an Associated Press photographer, Matías Delacroix, was also out on the street capturing images of the unfolding scene.
Camargo said a woman arrived in a big truck and told children to go home because “they’re bombing.” She said she and about nine people responded by running, passing by the place where the photo would later be taken.
She described noticing Delacroix standing to the side as he took the picture. In the images, Camargo is seen sprinting in a white shirt and jeans, with fear and urgency visible on her face as friends run behind her.
Camargo said she crossed paths that night with Delacroix in the middle of opposite directions—she said he ran toward the explosions after waking to the rumbling of American strikes.
Delacroix later told her what captured his attention. “What caught my attention was how you were running, with your cellphone and clearly scared,” Delacroix said, adding that he had photos of Camargo’s friend behind her but that between the two, Camargo’s picture “was the one that expressed the most what was happening.”
After the photograph circulated on front pages and websites, Camargo’s friends recognized her and began discussing her in a WhatsApp group. One friend asked, “Am I tripping or is that Nana Mariana???” and another wrote shortly after, “IT IS NANA!”
Camargo said the image became a joke in her circle and turned into a meme with the words “the gringos have arrived!” written over it. She said she laughed when she saw the photo and that her mother and friends laughed too, but she also said the video and sound of the explosions remained with her, producing a lingering sense of panic.
She wrote to Delacroix on Sunday via his Instagram account to ask if he had more photographs of the moment. When they met up on Tuesday, Camargo said the two parted with a hug.
“Crazy things always happen to me,” she said with a laugh. “Of course I end up on the street during a bombing and I go viral. It’s nuts.”
— Associated Press reporter Megan Janetsky contributed to this report from Mexico City.