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Rescuers worked through the night on Friday to save hundreds of Venezuelans trapped in rubble and find thousands more missing after two of the biggest earthquakes in Latin America’s modern history smashed areas in and around the capital Caracas.
Health Minister Carlos Alvarado said Thursday evening that medical centres had received at least 235 bodies, although the death toll was expected to rise, with thousands reported missing and frantic rescue efforts continuing. He said about 4,300 people had been injured.
Spain’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that two of its nationals had died, with another 80 unaccounted for.
A website created to track missing people and shared by opposition leaders from the politically polarized nation listed 49,600 people as unaccounted for.
Thousands of people are still missing after twin earthquakes hit Venezuela. Rescuers are working to find trapped survivors under the rubble, but there are fears deaths could climb to the tens of thousands.
The magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck about 160 kilometres west of Caracas on Wednesday evening. Less than a minute later, it was followed by a magnitude 7.5 tremor, the strongest since 1900, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Thousands are homeless in a nation already weakened by decades of economic and political turmoil that has impoverished the nation, triggered an exodus of millions, and eroded basic infrastructure and services.
“My building is uninhabitable and now I have nothing. It’s just me and my son, and I have no family in the country,” said Suhayl Sarquiz, 50, who lost her job a few months ago.
‘We lost everything’
The government confirmed 250 buildings damaged or destroyed. At least eight hospitals, the headquarters of the Venezuelan Red Cross and the French Embassy were among the buildings reported to have been badly damaged.
Electricity remained unavailable in parts of the state, while the Caracas airport was closed after sustaining damage. The Caracas Stock Exchange remained closed, turned into an aid collection centre.
With foreign rescue teams arriving, firefighters, soldiers and distraught citizens combed through shattered buildings, some using bare hands and torches in places where power was down.
“He’s under the slabs and there’s no machinery to get him out,” said Yamileth Jimenez of her 19-year-old son stuck in debris of their seven-story apartment building in La Guaira city on the coast outside Caracas.
La Guaira, the coastal state adjoining Caracas and home to the nation’s main airport, was among the hardest-hit areas. Streams of volunteers headed down the Caracas-La Guaira highway with water, food and medicine.
“We lost everything,” said Pedro Perez, 64, an upholstery workshop owner who said he had lost both his home and business and was sleeping on the street with his wife and children.
“We hope help arrives quickly.”
Near the epicentre in Morón, a seaside town in Carabobo state, houses crumpled and residents had no water or electricity. Families salvaged what they could, including mattresses, televisions and washing machines.
Canada among countries pledging help
Nations around the world pledged support, even some that have opposed Venezuela during decades of international isolation, political repression and economic deterioration under the ruling Socialist Party. Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez took over when the U.S. seized her ally, the autocrat Nicolas Maduro, in January.
Canada said it would provide an initial $5 million in humanitarian aid to support life-saving assistance, including emergency food, water and health care.
UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said the organization was coordinating international rescue teams and “a massive collective effort” would be needed.
The UN’s Venezuelan human rights mission urged the government to lift restrictions on some social media, calling connectivity a “matter of life and death.”
SpaceX’s Starlink said it would provide free service through July 25 for new and existing customers in affected areas and was working to deploy terminals to the hardest-hit zones to help restore communications.
Until now, the deadliest quake in Venezuela’s modern history had been in 1967, killing 240 people.
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