Caracas, Venezuela. The death toll from Venezuela’s twin earthquakes rose above 1,400 on Saturday as foreign rescue teams arrived in the country and authorities continued searching for survivors in the hardest-hit coastal areas. The quakes struck on Wednesday and triggered hundreds of aftershocks.
Search operations expand
Rescuers spread out across La Guaira and parts of Caracas, where families and volunteers have spent days pulling survivors and bodies from the rubble. Some residents complained of limited heavy equipment and a scant official presence.
Officials said more than 1,600 foreign rescuers had arrived, with additional teams on the way as the international response grew.
Hard-hit areas in La Guaira
In Caraballeda, one of the worst-hit areas of La Guaira, U.S. helicopters ferried rescue teams into a dusty landing zone, according to Reuters witnesses, dropping off crews before departing again.
Residents said the response in some areas had been uneven, although heavy machinery was operating in parts of Caraballeda and Los Corales by Saturday.
Families search for missing relatives
Among the volunteers was Alejandro Serrano, a 33-year-old industrial engineer who traveled from San Cristobal in western Venezuela in search of his 24-year-old sister, Ana Serrano. She lived in the Bahía Mar building in Caraballeda, which was destroyed in the earthquakes.
Serrano said he searched at Caracas’ Perez Carreno Hospital on Thursday night but did not find her. He said he had provided her details and address to rescue teams from Argentina and El Salvador.
“I hope they don’t find her” in the rubble, he said, meaning he hoped she was still alive. “But I need to find her.”
Residents remain on edge
In the small Los Corales area known as Valle del Pino, Beisy Rivas, 60, said five or six homes in her neighborhood were still standing but had been damaged.
“Since the night of the earthquakes, almost all the neighbors have been sleeping in the street because of the aftershocks,” she said. “My nerves are on edge, thinking about the dead and about the people who lost relatives.”