Venezuela earthquakes: death toll rises again to more than 1,400 | Venezuela
The death toll from the twin earthquakes that hit Venezuela earlier this week has risen to 1,430, according to Jorge Rodríguez, one of the country’s leading politicians.
Speaking on state television, the speaker of the National Assembly added that another 3,200 people were injured and 3,100 people were left homeless due to the disaster.
Rescue teams are still searching for survivors after the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes, which occurred a minute apart on Wednesday evening and destroyed buildings in the north of the country. It was reported that at least 68,900 people were not informed by their families.
In La Guaira, one of the areas most affected by the attacks, many civilians are digging through the rubble of collapsed buildings with shovels and their bare hands.
On Saturday, the UN estimated that the earthquakes caused $6.7 billion in damage, equivalent to 6% of Venezuela’s GDP.
In a statement made by the UN Development Programme, it was stated that the preliminary assessment covers losses to assets, including housing, but does not include broader economic disruptions.
Delcy Rodríguez, the South American country’s acting president, said on state television that more than 14,000 members of the military and police were patrolling affected areas where access was blocked and special permits were required for entry.
Other rescue teams sent by governments from around the world, including Mexico, the United States, Brazil, El Salvador and France, arrived in Venezuela on Saturday.
This comes after teams from countries including the Netherlands, Türkiye and the UK were deployed to assist with search and rescue efforts.
A specialist team of British crisis response volunteers from the charity Serve On to Caracas were stranded at Madrid airport for more than 24 hours after the earthquakes devastated Simón Bolívar International airport, the only international airport serving Caracas.
Their team leader, Vernon Young, told the Press Association: “Things like this are always time critical. We’re a light team and can move quickly. The sooner you get there, the better your chance of saving lives.”
He added: “We are a technical rescue team and can potentially find deeply buried victims just by their movements. We still believe we can make a good contribution if we can get there in a day or two.”
Due to there being no direct flights from the UK to Venezuela, the team has been at Madrid airport since 21:00 on Friday, after connecting flights from Istanbul were cancelled.
Flights from Madrid were also canceled as volunteers were stranded due to their dependence on civilian transport.
The US military will help coordinate rescue teams, mobile hospitals and flights to bring in supplies, US State Department official Jeremy Lewin said.
He said two 80-person search teams were deployed and a U.S. Navy transport ship docked off the coast of Venezuela, ready to pick up airlifted survivors in need of medical attention.
Finding people injured in the earthquake was a “race against time”, Lewin said.
He added: “People are trapped under rubble and the priority is to get search and rescue teams, medical professionals and others to them as quickly as possible to save lives.”
Loyce Pace, director of the Americas for the International Red Cross, said: “People are still afraid to re-enter places that are their home.”
Foreign nationals were confirmed among the dead, including 15 of Portuguese nationality or origin, seven Chinese, two Brazilians, five Spaniards and one Italian-Venezuelan.
