Search and rescue teams, accompanied by specially trained dogs, continued yesterday to search for the last survivors in the rubble of the two very powerful earthquakes that struck Venezuela last Wednesday, where the official death toll has risen to 1,450, and 189 buildings have been confirmed to have collapsed completely.

Tens of thousands of people remain missing, while at least 774 buildings sustained serious damage last week in the Latin American country, which has been experiencing an economic crisis and intense political conflicts for years — even before former President Nicolás Maduro was captured in early January during a bloody U.S. military operation in the capital, Caracas.

“The death toll has reached 1,450—women and men who lost their lives in the worst and most devastating natural disaster our country has ever suffered in its entire history,” said Parliament Speaker Jorge Rodríguez yesterday.

The number of buildings that were damaged or collapsed stands at 774, “189 of which were completely destroyed,” he added.

The United Nations estimates that approximately 50,000 people are missing.

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There are still survivors

A man and his teenage son managed to escape from the rubble yesterday, nearly four days after the double earthquake that struck Venezuela, in Caravajeda, a coastal town north of the capital Caracas, which suffered massive destruction.

Teams of American and French rescuers pulled the young man and his father from a mountain of rubble—in shock, exhausted, and naked—on a stretcher.

In that city, residents, enraged by the military’s inaction, forced some of them to take up pickaxes and shovels and help clear the rubble from a collapsed building.

“My outrage stems from the fact that a general arrived with about twenty armed soldiers, and they just sat in a corner. They could have pulled someone out—even if they were dead—but they just sat there, calmly, in their corner,” explained Alexander Mihares, a 26-year-old merchant and volunteer rescuer.

After the heckling, soldiers began clearing away the rubble.

“Search and rescue operations are continuing. We have found people alive, and as a result, operations have not been suspended. We still have hope,” Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said last night, extending the school closures by one week.

In one of the hardest-hit areas, La Guaira, which is located near the epicenter, Héctor Aguilera was still searching for four members of his family, who were buried in the rubble when a series of earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes last Wednesday.

Two other relatives of his were rescued. “We didn’t have the means to get our family out of there. We couldn’t reach them on our own. They’re buried in there. We know they’re dead. But we’re staying here,” he said.

In the San Bernardino neighborhood of the capital, volunteers had climbed onto a collapsed building, using drills to break up chunks of concrete and clearing debris by hand, forming human chains.

In Callao, another neighborhood in the capital, large advertising screens on a building displayed the faces of missing persons, in the hope of helping to locate them.

Papal “Solidarity”

“I wish to express my solidarity with our sisters and brothers in Venezuela who have been affected by the recent earthquakes, which have caused many deaths and injuries,” Pope Leo XIV said yesterday—in Spanish—at the Vatican.

In the hours leading up to the arrival of the first foreign rescue teams, citizens were searching for victims, often with their bare hands.

In a country whose economy has been stagnating for years, the lack of construction and lifting equipment is painfully evident.

“Mainly residents” are participating in the rescue operations and “working with only the most basic tools,” said Craig Demelon, a 43-year-old experienced Australian rescuer living in Miami, Craig Demelon, 43.

The government is restricting access to the state of La Guaira and has required volunteers to obtain a permit to enter the area—a measure that has sparked their outrage.

“They have to give you a permit to go save lives… just think about that,” said Carlos Itriago, 27, in an indignant tone.

Matsado Says She Will Return

Meanwhile, María Corina Machado, a leading opposition figure, assured the American television network Fox News yesterday that she will allow Venezuela “very soon”.

“The time has come; it is my duty to stand by my people,” she said.

The Venezuelan government considers Ms. Machado a “fugitive”; and accuses her of having advocated for the U.S. military intervention that ousted Mr. Maduro.

Acting President Delcy Rodríguez, the target of fierce criticism, thanked the 24 countries that sent 521 metric tons of supplies, more than 2,700 rescue workers, and 86 teams with dogs specially trained to locate trapped victims.

The damage caused is estimated to be worth nearly 7 billion dollars; an amount equivalent to 6% of GDP, according to estimates by the United Nations Development Program (PNUD in French, UNDP in English).

At least 28 foreign nationals—or people with dual citizenship—from Venezuela and other countries are among the victims: seven from China, nine from Spain, two from Brazil, one from Chile, one from Uruguay, and one with dual Venezuelan and Italian citizenship.

Venezuela is a country with high seismic activity, but an earthquake of this magnitude had not been recorded on its territory since 1997.

Source: KYPE