Venezuela’s toll from twin earthquakes rises to 2295
The country’s Parliament Speaker Jorge Rodríguez said that 2295 people died in the double earthquake in Venezuela.
“As of today, 2,295 people have died and 11,267 people have been injured. We are currently counting 12,841 people affected,” Rodriguez said in an update broadcast by state broadcaster Venezolana de Television (VTV). he said.
He said more than 4,000 rescue workers rescued 6,461 people.
“Hope remains intact,” he said.
The unofficial but widely used list of casualties is 40,567. This week, a United Nations envoy said 10,000 body bags had been supplied for Venezuela, an indication of how large the death toll could ultimately be.
Rodriguez announced that 782 aftershocks have been recorded since the double earthquake, but their frequency and intensity have decreased in the last two days.
During the speech, Rodriguez said that thousands more people became homeless due to the earthquake.
The Venezuelan government set up 25 “temporary” camps for those affected: 13 in La Guaira (the most affected area), eight in Caracas, two in Miranda, one in Carabobo and one in Yaracuy.
While residents criticized interim President Delcy Rodriguez’s government for what they described as a slow and inadequate state response, the NGO International Rescue Committee said “the scale of the response does not meet the scale of humanitarian need.”
In a post on X, Rodriguez said authorities are continuing to assist those affected and are overseeing recovery efforts.
“I know that many Venezuelans feel pain and disappointment. I share these feelings deeply,” he said.
The team here is awaiting two important next steps: visits from the registrar to replace lost official ID cards, and visits from the housing ministry to clarify what people who have lost their homes need to do to get help.
“I feel like the earthquake is still inside me,” said Deisy Tapias, a 36-year-old shelter resident who stays at the shelter with two of her five children. “I wish I could go home.”
His flat down the beach was almost destroyed, but his 17-year-old son managed to salvage his ID cards and a cooking gas tank from the rubble.
Tapias said he’s willing to move out of state if he can replace his home that way.
Her mother, Deisy Bermudez, 55, has a solid home in a nearby community and arrived with clothes and food for her family.
Bermudez, who lost his home in the 1999 disaster, said, “I can’t stand shelters,” and later said he missed government housing built for victims.
As the women spoke to Reuters, an army transport truck pulled up outside and soldiers helped eight new families carry bags of belongings into the shelter, where they were greeted by the team.
The team said that most of those arriving now live near the ruins and are looking for their loved ones trapped under the rubble.
from EFE
