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The toll of victims from the two earthquakes that devastated Venezuela on Wednesday, June 24 continues to rise: this Sunday, the government raised the official death toll to 1,450, with 3,238 injured and thousands of people still unaccounted for.
The two earthquakes, measuring 7.2 and 7.5 in magnitude, occurred just 39 seconds apart and are considered the strongest recorded in the country since 1900, according to the AP agency.
The death toll has rapidly escalated: 164 on Thursday the 25th, 920 on Friday the 26th, and 1,430 on Saturday the 27th, before reaching the new tally this Sunday.
The civic platform Encuéntralos reported nearly 55,000 missing persons by noon on Saturday, while the UN estimates up to 50,000 missing individuals and counts a total of 6.76 million people affected by the disaster.
The government reported this Sunday that more than 770 buildings collapsed completely or partially, double the number reported just two days earlier.
The coastal state of La Guaira, the most devastated area, remains inaccessible and requires special permits for entry, with more than 14,000 military and police personnel deployed in the region.
Rescue efforts continued on Sunday with local and international teams working against the clock.
Rescuers from the United States and France successfully pulled a father and his son alive from the rubble in the morning.
A 10-month-old baby and an 11-year-old child were also rescued, according to AP.
More than 2,200 rescuers from 17 countries had arrived in the country by Saturday, according to the UN, with teams from Mexico, Brazil, El Salvador, France, and Spain, among others. Washington announced aid of 150 million dollars and its teams are also working on repairing the Simón Bolívar International Airport, which has been severely damaged and has only one operational runway.
However, the response from the government of the acting president Delcy Rodríguez faced increasing criticism.
Frustrated citizens blocked the exit of an excavator from a collapse site and removed its operator, after officials from the ruling party posed for photographs in front of the collapsed buildings without providing assistance.
Many residents of the affected areas reported seeing very little government presence.
"It doesn't matter who it is, whether family or not. If there is someone alive, they need to be rescued," said Yonahí Regalado, who was searching for her sister and her one-year-old nephew among the rubble, as helicopters flew over the area.
The disaster strikes Venezuela at a moment of extreme fragility.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) estimated direct damages at 6.7 billion dollars, equivalent to 6% of Venezuela's GDP, with a total impact that could reach between 10.05 billion and 20.1 billion.
Among the missing are at least 32 Cubans, primarily concentrated in the areas of Caraballeda, Catia La Mar, and Los Corales, in La Guaira, and the death of a Cuban girl and her cousin has been confirmed.
The United States Geological Survey issued a Red Alert following the earthquakes and estimates a 42% probability that the total number of fatalities could range between 10,000 and 100,000. This projection contrasts with the ongoing official count and anticipates difficult weeks for a country that, prior to the earthquakes, already had eight million people in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the UN.
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