La Guaira, Venezuela. Thirty-three people were rescued over the weekend after Venezuela’s twin earthquakes, interim President Delcy Rodriguez said, including several children, as the death toll rose above 1,400. Tens of thousands of people remained unaccounted for as the window for finding additional survivors narrowed.
Rescue efforts continue
Foreign rescue teams poured into coastal La Guaira, the hardest-hit state, after the twin earthquakes struck on Wednesday. More than 1,600 foreign rescue workers had arrived by Saturday.
Families and volunteers spent days pulling survivors and bodies from the rubble before the arrival of the foreign teams. They often complained of limited heavy equipment and a scant official presence, while hundreds of aftershocks deepened the damage and kept residents on edge.
Access restrictions and missing persons
The government, headed by interim President Delcy Rodriguez since her predecessor was removed by the U.S. in a January raid, thanked civilian volunteers transporting aid to La Guaira. It later tightened access to the road into the area, saying traffic was preventing the efficient movement of emergency vehicles and that only accredited people could use the roadway.
Although the government has reported hundreds missing or trapped, just under 50,000 people were listed as unaccounted for on a website promoted by the country’s political opposition on Sunday. That figure was down slightly from 55,000 on Saturday.
Death toll estimates
The U.S. Geological Survey estimated that more than 10,000 deaths were possible from the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes, which would place them among the deadliest in Latin America in the last century.
Sebastian Eugster, leader of the Swiss rescue team, told Reuters on Saturday that there is a window of about three days, or 72 hours, after which the probability of saving people alive decreases.
