The search for survivors intensified on Friday June 26 in Venezuela, where international aid began to arrive, almost two days after two devastating earthquakes whose death toll more than doubled to reach 589 deaths.
Rescue teams from at least 17 countries are being deployed to help search for survivors, the UN announced on Friday. Previously, Washington had announced the arrival in Caracas of a first American military detachment, headed by a Marine general.
Images show busy rescuers, sometimes in great destitution, with bare hands and with simple shovels and plastic buckets, in the rubble of a collapsed building.
The interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, who declared a state of emergency shortly after the double tremor of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 on Wednesday, deplored “589 deaths” on Friday during a meeting with civil and military representatives, more than double the 235 deaths announced Thursday evening by the Minister of Health, Carlos Alvarado.
Four Spaniards, nine Portuguese, two Brazilians, an Italian-Venezuelan, two Chinese are among the dead. A Spanish minister also reported 99 compatriots “disappeared”, without specifying whether some were dual nationals.
“Absolute silence!” »
Flattened buildings, mountains of rubble where families in distress are trying to find buried people: at the epicenter of the earthquake, AFP teams observed impressive scenes of destruction which suggest a much greater number of victims than the current toll.
For comparison, earthquakes of similar magnitude caused more than 200,000 deaths in Haiti in January 2010, 73,000 deaths in Kashmir in October 2005, and nearly 53,500 deaths on the Turkey/Syria border in February 2023.
The hardest hit area is La Guaira, north of the capital Caracas, home to the damaged and closed Maiquetia International Airport and the coastal town of Catia la Mar. Aerial images of La Guaira posted on social media show a succession of swimming pool residences collapsed like houses of cards.
A total of 25 rescue teams are being deployed, including 17 international urban search and rescue teams and eight emergency medical teams, for a total of around 1,000 rescuers, according to the UN.
In addition to aid from the United States, teams from Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Italy, Mexico and Switzerland have already arrived in Venezuela, according to the spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha), Jens Laerke.
Venezuelan television also reported the arrival of 80 Swiss rescuers and a group of 80 Mexican rescuers, known by the nickname “Moles”, specialized in searching for earthquake victims. Others come from the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Jordan, the Netherlands, Qatar and Spain. A first plane from El Salvador arrived there with 188 men, according to the president of this country Nayib Bukele. “Our staff on site informs us (…) that a lot of equipment is missing.”
The United States promised an “important”, “rapid and effective” response, through its Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, with aid of 150 million dollars. The US military said it would deploy military ships, planes and helicopters to support the relief efforts.
This American initiative, a strong diplomatic act after years of tensions, is part of the restoration of relations between the two countries since American forces captured in January the deposed president, Nicolas Maduro, now imprisoned in the United States. Turkey, a country accustomed to earthquakes, announced the departure of two military planes from Istanbul on Friday with 67 rescuers on board.
This content is blocked because you have not accepted cookies and other trackers.
I manage my choices I authorize
