Rescue teams in Venezuela raced against time on Sunday to find more survivors of two powerful earthquakes that struck the country this week, as signs of life brought occasional relief to a grim search for tens of thousands of missing people.
Death Toll Rises to 1,450
The death toll from Wednesday's twin earthquakes rose to at least 1,450 as of Saturday, according to interim President Delcy Rodriguez. Foreign rescue teams poured into La Guaira, the hardest-hit state, about 25 miles north of Caracas. Dozens of buildings collapsed into piles of sand and rubble in the coastal state, which is already mired in a deep political and economic crisis.
“We must report that the number of fatalities has reached 1,450 people, women and men who lost their lives as a result of the most brutal natural catastrophe that our country has ever suffered in its history,” Rodriguez said. Some 3,150 people remained injured, 12,721 have been displaced, and 774 buildings have collapsed, she added.
Government Tightens Access Amid Rescue Efforts
The government, headed by Rodriguez since her predecessor was ousted by the U.S. in a January raid, initially thanked civilian volunteers ferrying aid to La Guaira but then tightened access to the road, citing traffic that prevented efficient movement of emergency vehicles.
Later on Sunday, Jorge Rodriguez, president of the National Assembly and brother of the interim president, said rescue teams remained active. “Each life saved is a miracle; each life saved is the answer to the effort of thousands of people to whom we will be forever grateful,” he said in a televised speech. “We are in critical hours, in crucial hours to continue rescuing lives and to build camps where those people who have lost their homes, or who cannot return, for whatever reason, to their residences can stay.”
Survivors Found Amid Rubble
Families and volunteers spent days pulling survivors and bodies from the rubble before the arrival of more than 2,600 foreign rescue workers, often complaining of scant heavy equipment and a limited official presence. Hundreds of aftershocks deepened damage and kept residents on edge. By Saturday evening, the government said at least 33 people had been rescued, including several children, while tens of thousands remained unaccounted for. Just under 50,000 people were listed as missing on a website promoted by the political opposition on Sunday, down from 55,000 a day earlier.
The U.S. Geological Survey estimated more than 10,000 deaths were possible from the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 quakes, which would place them among Latin America’s deadliest of the last century.
Clock Ticking for Survivors
“There exists a window of roughly three days, 72 hours, where the probability afterwards decreases that you can save people alive,” said Sebastian Eugster, leader of the Swiss rescue team. The 80-strong team had found multiple people alive in the rubble thanks to alerts from their eight search dogs but had not been able to pull them out in time to save them, he added. Saturday evening marked 72 hours since the quakes.
Children Rescued by International Teams
The U.S. State Department hailed the rescue of an infant by U.S. rescue crews on Saturday, posting a video on X showing helmet-clad rescuers removing the blanket-wrapped and wailing child from the rubble. A Colombian rescue team saved an 11-year-old boy, Moises, who had been trapped some 3 meters deep in rubble, after identifying his location with a scanner, Reuters TV reported. He was removed on a stretcher with a broken arm, his eyes covered by cloth to protect them from daylight. His mother and sister were killed. Mexican rescuers working at a collapsed building in Caraballeda rescued another 11-year-old boy, Rodriguez posted on X late Saturday, showing crews carrying a small figure on a stretcher out of the rubble.
International Response and Political Implications
Pope Leo on Sunday told worshippers gathered for the Angelus prayer in Rome that he wanted “to express my closeness to the Venezuelan sisters and brothers affected by the recent earthquakes” and expressed gratitude to rescue workers. A senior U.S. official said on Saturday that a funding package worth hundreds of millions of dollars is expected to be announced soon, in addition to the $150 million the Trump administration had already committed. The disaster could have political consequences for Rodriguez, who has portrayed herself as an agent of change even though she served as vice president under predecessor Nicolas Maduro.
