The official toll of the devastating earthquakes on June 24 in Venezuela rose this Monday to 1,719 dead and 5,034 injured, as announced by Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly, during an appearance broadcast by the state channel Venezolana de Televisión.
Rodríguez outlined that the official figures from the regime also record 15,866 victims and a total of 22,619 people treated in hospitals, field hospitals, and triage points distributed across the affected areas.
In terms of infrastructure, the official specified that 855 buildings were damaged: 189 experienced total collapse and 666 suffered partial collapse or severe structural damage.
"The number of people who lost their lives has risen to 1,719. 5,034 individuals are injured, and so far there are 15,866 people affected, with a total of 22,619 individuals accounted for in our hospitals, in the field hospitals, and at triage points," Rodríguez stated.
The official also reported that 90% of the electrical service in La Guaira —the most devastated coastal state— has been restored, and that the acting president Delcy Rodríguez established two commissions to assess the habitability of the affected buildings.
The official number has dramatically escalated in just five days: on June 25, there were reported 164 deaths following the earthquakes; on June 26, the number rose to 920; on June 27, it reached 1,430; on Sunday the 28th, it was at 1,450; and this Monday, it reached 1,719.
However, the official numbers starkly contrast with the independent estimates and those from international organizations.
The UN reports a figure of up to 50,000 missing persons following the earthquakes, while the citizen platform Encuéntralos —activated in response to the collapse of official emergency lines— recorded between 55,000 and 60,000 missing persons, of which only about 9,000 had been located.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) assigned a Red Alert to the area and estimates that there is a 42% probability that the total number of fatalities could be between 10,000 and 100,000.
The two earthquakes, with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, shook northern Venezuela on June 24 at 6:04 PM local time, with just 39 seconds apart, having their epicenters in the state of Yaracuy.
They are the most powerful recorded in the country since 1900, according to the USGS, and struck a nation that was already experiencing a severe humanitarian crisis, with infrastructure deteriorated after decades of management by the Chávez regime.
This Monday morning, a magnitude 4.6 aftershock shook the coastal area without any new fatalities reported.
Among the missing are at least 32 Cubans, concentrated in the areas of Caraballeda, Catia La Mar, and Los Corales in La Guaira, where the death of the Cuban girl Vanessa Martínez has also been confirmed.
The PNUD estimated the direct damages from the earthquakes 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 dollars.
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