The death toll from the twin earthquakes that struck northern Venezuela has reached nearly 3,000, according to a new preliminary official report released on Saturday.
Concurrently, international search and rescue teams are gradually scaling down their operations to locate survivors in the debris of collapsed buildings.
La Guaira, located 40 kilometres from Caracas, sustained the most severe damage from the 24 June seismic activity, which flattened dozens of buildings. Thousands of displaced residents remain homeless, sleeping on streets or seeking temporary shelter in parks with no clear prospects for recovery.
Rescue operations wind down
“We keep working, finding bodies — we keep going,” Francisco Saskia, a 38-year-old volunteer rescuer and interpreter, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) outside the collapsed Ocean Beach building in the Playa Grande district, where machinery was clearing debris.
“We still believe we will find people alive, we are not losing hope,” he added, speaking as rescue contingents from Vietnam and Mexico prepared to depart the country.
At least 2,954 people were killed and 16,592 others injured in the twin earthquakes, which measured 7.2 and 7.5 on the Richter scale, according to the provisional toll announced yesterday by the Ministry of Communication in Caracas. The ministry stated that over 16,000 people have been left homeless, while at least 856 buildings were totally destroyed or severely damaged.
The two tremors struck northern Venezuela just 39 seconds apart. In the streets of La Guaira, the presence of foreign search teams is visibly diminishing as units sent by the US, Chile, and other nations prepare to leave. Members of fire departments from Los Angeles County, as well as teams from Florida and Virginia, confirmed their departures to AFP.
While experts generally consider the critical window for locating survivors to close after 72 hours, rescuers achieved a rare success on Thursday by pulling a man alive from the rubble eight days after the disaster.
The capital city of Caracas also suffered building collapses and structural damage, though the scale remains lower than that observed in La Guaira. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the 7.5-magnitude earthquake represents the most powerful seismic event to hit Venezuela since 1900.
Political backlash amid relief efforts
Yesterday, interim President Delcy Rodriguez decorated international rescuers arriving from Britain, Qatar, France, India, Barbados, Brazil, and Argentina, alongside specialized canine search units.
“This universal solidarity must inspire people all over the world,” Rodriguez said during the ceremony.
The interim president, who assumed power following the capture of former head of state Nicolas Maduro during a lethal US military operation in Caracas in January, faces domestic criticism over the initial shortage of rescue personnel and equipment prior to the arrival of international aid missions.
In the Caraballeda area of La Guaira state, the 12-storey residential complexes known as People’s Power Projects 26 and 27 were completely reduced to rubble. Local volunteers continue recovery efforts to retrieve bodies from the site.
“We escaped the war, but not nature,” Celida Sequera, a 43-year-old volunteer, told reporters. She noted that a friend’s wife and three children, aged 6, 10, and 12, remain missing after their building collapsed while they slept.
The Venezuelan government has not released an official figure for the total number of missing persons. However, United Nations estimates suggest the number of unaccounted individuals could reach up to 50,000.