More than 50,000 people are missing after twin earthquakes in Venezuela yesterday and international rescue teams and sniffer dogs have come to join a desperate search for survivors, the United Nations’ assistance head informed our correspondent.
The death toll now stands at 589 but is likely to “rise significantly”, UN relief head Tom Fletcher said. Interim president Delcy Rodriguez said the death toll now stood at 589.
“We have over 50,000 people missing, over 500 people dead so a massive job to go through the rubble,” he informed our correspondent.
Rescuers, armed with heavy machinery as well as their bare hands, raced to claw out individuals trapped beneath rubble in the worst-hit earthquake zone north of the capital Caracas, AFP reported.
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At one of the flattened buildings, our correspondent watched workmen using sledgehammers to smash the debris, calling for “absolute silence” to hear any calls of survivors.
Venezuela, a nation rich in oil, is enduring its biggest natural disaster in more than a century. More than a decade of economic collapse has decimated hospitals and public services and forced millions to flee the country.
Six months after the United States deposed leader Nicolas Maduro, the country remains in a precarious transition.
Rescue attempts have been delayed, with relatives waiting helplessly and making urgent calls for additional heavy machinery to haul out loved ones they can hear alive under the wreckage.
“It’s a lot of rock, and with bare hands it’s not possible,” said Amparo del Giudice, clawing through debris looking for her son.
Northern Venezuela was shaken Wednesday night by two earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 less than a minute apart, toppling hundreds of houses.
In another part of La Guaira, three voices were heard from the ruins of a collapsed structure.
“Still living… “There’s nothing we can do anymore,” said Antonio Bermudez, a resident. “We don’t have tools. There’s nothing we can do to help.
Children alone were being dragged from the wreckage and brought in by ambulance, said a doctor at the city’s Domingo Luciani Hospital who spoke on condition of anonymity.
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“Some children give their names, and some come with the identification tape on their arms,” he continued.
Help is coming
President of the National Assembly Jorge Rodriguez announced Thursday that over 200 persons were confirmed to be trapped alive. Executive Branch
The UN humanitarian agency OCHA said search and rescue teams from at least 17 nations were being mobilised to assist find survivors.
Spanish, Salvadoran, Swiss, Colombian and Mexican rescue teams were already on the ground.
A senior US military officer flew to Caracas to coordinate aid operations from Washington.
The United States said it was sending in two warships, transport planes and helicopters, and mobilising aid worth $150 million. Washington has also halted economic penalties on Venezuela for four months that may have hampered rescue efforts.
“Even before the earthquakes, millions of people across Venezuela were facing food insecurity, collapsing health services, protection risks and limited access to basic services,” the UN and other relief agencies said in a statement yesterday.
“The international community cannot allow this emergency to turn into a greater human tragedy.”
The January 2010 earthquake in Haiti and the October 2005 earthquake in Kashmir took the lives of around 200,000 and 73,000 people respectively.
“We have a whole of government response. “It will be large, it will be fast and it will be effective,” stated US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Washington is deeply involved in oil-rich Venezuela after US soldiers removed and detained President Nicolas Maduro in January.
China, India, Brazil and even war-torn Iran have offered help, and Pope Leo XIV has sent the kingdom an initial 100,000 euros in cash.
The UN leader Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply saddened” by the incident and the world organization pledged to help Venezuela.
The largest earthquake to hit Venezuela in 126 years would demand “massive collective efforts,” UN relief chief Tom Fletcher said in a statement.
The international airport is in La Guaira and has been closed after major damage, threatening to hinder relief efforts.
Among the fatalities were two Brazilians, two Chinese, an Italian and a Portuguese citizen, authorities in those nations said.
Tremors in Colombia, Brazil
The northern coast of Venezuela stands on the border of the Caribbean and South American tectonic plates but has not had a major quake since 1997, when 73 people died. Another quake in 1967 killed 236 people.
The 7.5-magnitude quake on Wednesday was the strongest since a 7.7-magnitude tremor off shore on 29 October, 1900.
The quake was also felt in neighbouring Colombia, when inhabitants in Bogota evacuated buildings as a precaution.
Tremors were also observed in many places in northern Brazil by the country’s seismic monitoring network.
In the Venezuelan capital Caracas, fear and destruction also ensued, as many spent the night sleeping in the streets or in their automobiles.
Rita Gomez, 60, flew to the capital after reading on social media the building her daughter resides in had collapsed and she was not answering her.
She said heavy machinery was coming and “a lot of cooperation from the neighbours. “We believe in God that they will find her alive.”
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