Death toll from Venezuela earthquakes climbs to 1,943
The death toll from two devastating earthquakes that struck northern Venezuela last week has risen to 1,943, authorities said on Tuesday.
A further 10,571 people have been injured and 28,380 are receiving care in hospitals or temporary camps following the quakes, according to Jorge Rodríguez, the president of the country's National Assembly.
Back-to-back 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude tremors hit Venezuela on the evening of 24 June, causing widespread destruction and leaving tens of thousands of people missing. A strong aftershock also rattled the region on Friday, sending people fleeing into the streets as the ground shook once again.
Civilians, emergency crews and volunteers have since been racing to rescue those trapped under collapsed buildings, with rescuers from around the world joining local crews to dig through the rubble. The first 72 hours are said to be the most crucial for successful rescues. It has been almost a week since the quakes hit.
Video footage on social media has shown emergency responders navigating small, unstable crawl spaces as they attempt to get to survivors.
Many locals, however, have been critical of the search and rescue efforts, with some arguing that wealth and connections have influenced operations.
A large search team consisting of police officers and military school students was reportedly deployed to search one building in the hope of finding a police captain and a military major general. A telescopic crane was reportedly also parked for several hours in what had been the entrance to that building, with relatives of wealthy families who lived there able to rent it.
“I think that if there were someone in a position of authority in each of these apartments, there would be a well-oiled machine working like they have in other residences,” Angelica Mundrain, who is searching for the bodies of her son, niece and nephew, said, while pointing to her building.
Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, said on Monday that 3,681 rescuers from 30 countries had joined the search efforts. The international community has also provided over 1,000 tons of supplies, 27 vehicles, and 118 search dogs, she added.
More than 6,450 people have been found alive as of Tuesday, with a further 13,500 able to escape by themselves, per Venezuela's government.
UNICEF has estimated that around 1.8 million people, including 680,000 children, require humanitarian assistance following the quakes.
A preliminary estimate from the United Nations Development Programme has put the cost of direct physical damage caused by the tremors at $6.7 billion.