Rescue teams race to Venezuela amid fears thousands killed in earthquakes | Venezuela
Rescue teams are racing towards Venezuela’s shattered northern coast after nearly simultaneous earthquakes leveled dozens of buildings, killing at least 235 people but fearing thousands more were killed. Authorities said at least 4,300 people were injured as search and rescue efforts continued.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said late Wednesday afternoon that the defense department would help deploy search and rescue teams to the affected area after Simón Bolívar international airport near the capital Caracas, Venezuela’s main gateway, was heavily damaged by 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes that occurred less than 40 seconds apart.
He said the most urgent need is search and rescue. “They have [lots of] The next 72 “golden” hours are critical, Rubio told reporters.
“During search and rescue you are trying to reach people while they are still able to save their lives; they are buried under rubble.”
The coastal area near the international airport around the cities of La Guaira, Catia La Mar and Caraballeda appears to have suffered by far the worst damage, with a number of large tower blocks crumbling to the ground and people desperately searching for missing loved ones. In some cases, families of four or five people have disappeared.
“This is a total tragedy,” acting president Delcy Rodríguez said in a televised broadcast, declaring the La Guaira region a disaster area.
Caracas also suffered serious damage, with multiple buildings collapsing in the Altamira and Los Palos Grandes neighborhoods. On Thursday evening the official death toll was raised to 235, while the number of missing persons rose to 157 in a previous count.
Tom Fletcher, head of the UN humanitarian agency Ocha, in question: “We are fully mobilized now… We will increase our numbers, we will increase our solidarity, and most importantly, we will increase our search and rescue support… to the people who have lost so much… Now is the time for action.”
The UN agency reported that more than 100 buildings were destroyed in the La Guaira region alone. These included a large apartment block called Ritasol Palace and Eduard’s Hotel on the seafront. Among the missing are five-year-old children as well as elderly people.
The earthquakes were so strong that they were felt in the Brazilian city of Manaus in the Amazon, 1,600 kilometers south of Caracas, and people were forced to flee their homes.
As aftershocks continued to shake northern Venezuela on Thursday, world leaders offered their condolences and support to a country reeling from years of economic and humanitarian crisis and political repression.
French president Emmanuel Macron said: “France, together with its European partners, is ready to provide assistance to the affected population… A team of 85 specialized French rescuers… will be deployed immediately.”
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva expressed “great concern and dismay” for the Venezuelan people, who have already shown “great resilience in the face of difficulties.”
US President Donald Trump, who turned Venezuela’s political landscape upside down by ordering the kidnapping of dictator Nicolás Maduro on January 3 this year, said: “The United States is ready, willing and able to help! I have instructed all institutions of our government to prepare to act quickly. We will be there for our wonderful new friends. The first reports are not good!!!”
Rodríguez, the former vice president of Venezuela who came to power with Trump’s approval after Maduro’s ouster, expressed his gratitude for the global solidarity, writing on social media: “Venezuela will never forget the helping hand extended to our people in these difficult times.”
The region most damaged by Wednesday’s “unprecedented seismic event” was the province of La Guaira, whose capital is of the same name, he said in a televised speech. “There are dozens of collapsed buildings out there and we are currently engaged in a really challenging rescue effort in the hope of saving the lives God will allow us to do,” he said.
Aerial images painted a devastating picture of the situation in La Guaira, which authorities considered “ground zero” for the disaster. Caribbean beach towns and resorts west of the airport were in ruins, and many buildings along the beach were completely destroyed.
