Venezuela in 'critical hours' to find survivors as death toll reaches 1,450
Five days after twin earthquakes struck Venezuela, the death toll has risen to at least 1,450, with over 68,900 reported missing. Rescuers race against time amid severe shortages of heavy machinery and manpower, relying on international aid.
The president of Venezuela’s National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, warned that time is running out to rescue survivors trapped under rubble. In a televised address, he reported the death toll from the earthquakes had reached at least 1,450, with 3,150 injured and 12,721 displaced. “We are in critical hours, in crucial hours to continue rescuing lives and to build camps where those people who have lost their homes, or who cannot return, for whatever reason, to their residences can stay,” Rodríguez said.
More search and rescue teams are arriving in Venezuela five days after the powerful 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude quakes struck within a minute of each other on Wednesday evening, flattening buildings in the north of the country. The second quake was one of the strongest tremors to hit Venezuela in a century. At least 68,900 people have been reported unaccounted for by their families.
Experts say the first 72 hours after natural disasters define the narrow window for rescuing the living. After that, the search usually becomes one of recovering bodies. Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, said power has been restored to La Guaira, a port city near the country’s main international airport badly affected by the earthquakes. But there is a severe shortage of heavy machinery needed to rescue survivors, and state manpower has been lacking, meaning the government is reliant on international aid for assistance.
There have been glimmers of hope in an ongoing tragedy. On Sunday, a man and his teenage son were found alive under the rubble in Caraballeda by French and American rescue teams. Thirty-three people were rescued on Saturday. The US state department highlighted the rescue of an infant by American crews. A Colombian rescue team saved an 11-year-old boy, Moises, who had been trapped about 3 metres deep. On Friday, after 32 hours under debris, a mother and her 18-day-old baby were found alive and rescued.
All schools in Venezuela will remain closed until at least July 6, the education ministry said, and will be converted into emergency relief centres and shelters.
