The death toll from two earthquakes in Venezuela has risen to 1,430, said one of the country’s leading politicians, National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez.
According to him, another 3,200 people were injured, and 3,100 were left homeless.
Rescuers continue to search for survivors after the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes, which struck Wednesday evening less than a minute apart and destroyed buildings in the north of the country. Relatives have reported 68,900 people missing.
In La Guaira, one of the worst-hit areas, local residents are clearing rubble with shovels and their bare hands.
On Saturday, acting President Delcy Rodríguez said an 11-year-old boy had been rescued from under the rubble in the coastal city of Caraballeda.
“A few minutes ago, an 11-year-old boy was rescued alive in Caraballeda. Right now, every life is a source of hope for Venezuela,” she wrote on X, posting video of the rescue operation.
A U.S. military drone flies over the rubble in La Guaira.
According to the UN estimate, the earthquakes caused $6.7 billion in damage, equivalent to 6% of Venezuela’s GDP. The preliminary estimate includes damage to property, including housing, but does not cover broader economic consequences, the UN Development Programme said.
Delcy Rodríguez also said more than 14,000 soldiers and police officers are patrolling the affected areas, where access is restricted and special permits are required to enter.
Additional rescue teams from Mexico, the United States, Brazil, El Salvador and France arrived in Venezuela on Saturday. Teams from the Netherlands, Turkey and the United Kingdom had earlier joined search-and-rescue operations.
At the same time, a team of British volunteers from the organization Serve On, which was heading to Caracas, remained at Madrid airport for more than a day. The delay arose after Simón Bolívar International Airport, which serves Venezuela’s capital, was badly damaged by the earthquakes.
Team leader Vernon Young told the Press Association that time is critical in such situations.
“We are a light team and can move quickly. The sooner you get to the site, the greater the chance of saving lives,” he said.
According to him, the team specializes in technical rescue operations and can locate people trapped deep under rubble by their movement.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Jeremy Levin said the U.S. military would help coordinate flights to deliver rescuers, mobile hospitals and humanitarian supplies.
According to him, two 80-person search teams have already been deployed, and a U.S. Navy transport ship is off the coast of Venezuela, ready to receive evacuated victims in need of medical care.
Levin called the rescue operation “a race against time.”
“People are under the rubble, and the priority is to get search-and-rescue teams, medics and other specialists to them as quickly as possible in order to save lives,” he said.
Lois Pace, the International Red Cross’s regional director for the Americas, said many people are still afraid to return to their homes.
Foreign nationals are among the dead. The victims reportedly include 15 people of Portuguese citizenship or origin, seven Chinese citizens, two Brazilians, five Spaniards and one Italian-Venezuelan.