Rescue teams searched desperately for survivors in Venezuela on Sunday as the death toll from two powerful earthquakes climbed to 1,430, with hopes of finding more people alive fading more than three days after the disaster struck.
Tens of thousands of people were reported missing as collapsed buildings dotted cities in a country already enduring an economic crisis and political upheaval after U.S. forces detained former President Nicolas Maduro in January.
Millions of people were also feared to lack sanitation and other basic needs.
Experts say the first 72 hours after natural disasters are the key, narrow window for finding the living. After that, the search becomes one of recovering bodies.
A Salvadoran rescue worker who declined to give his name put it this way: “At this point, they are probably dead bodies. Thanks to God, maybe we can find people still alive.”
An 11-year-old boy was rescued from the rubble in Caraballeda, north of Caracas, Saturday, three days after the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 tremors, interim leader Delcy Rodriguez said.
“Every life is a source of hope for Venezuela,” she said in a post on X, accompanied by a video of the rescue.
Facing public outrage over the local officials’ response, Rodriguez thanked other countries for the outpouring of aid.
Twenty-four countries have sent 521 tonnes of supplies, 86 units with dogs trained to locate people trapped beneath the rubble and more than 2,700 search-and-rescue personnel, she said.
U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher told AFP Friday that the death toll could continue to soar, adding that more than 50,000 people were missing.
The search for survivors saw desperate attempts by local residents to claw away rubble from buildings that collapsed in Wednesday’s two quakes.
“It’s just very chaotic, hot and unorganized,” said Australian firefighter Craig Demeillon, 43, who traveled alone to La Guaira from Miami to help. “Hopefully, there’s more people to find.”
Newborn rescued
There was joy in the hardest-hit coastal area of La Guaira, north of Caracas, when locals pulled an infant alive out of the wreckage Friday.
In one social media video, a man welled up in tears as he held the baby in his arms.
The U.N. migration agency said it had examined available population and damage data and had determined that “up to 6.76 million people could be affected,” and would “require emergency shelter, safe water, sanitation and hygiene services, healthcare, protection support and essential relief items.”
National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez reported Saturday 1,430 dead and 3,238 people injured, while the United Nations estimated $6.7 billion in physical damage – equivalent to 6% of Venezuela’s GDP.
Foreign nationals confirmed dead include 28 Portuguese, nine Spaniards, seven Chinese, two Brazilians, one Chilean, one Italian-Venezuelan and one Uruguayan.
