The official death toll from the double earthquake that shook Venezuela on June 24 continues to rise: this Friday, the Ministry of Popular Power for Communication and Information increased the death toll to 2,645, with 12,666 injured and 6,462 people rescued.
Nine days after the earthquakes with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5 that struck the coastal area of La Guaira, north of Caracas, authorities have also reported that 86,117 families have received assistance and 15,050 individuals remain without housing.
Structural damage affected 885 buildings, of which 189 completely collapsed, while 890 aftershocks have been recorded since the main earthquake.
The response operation mobilized 29,567 personnel, 3,305 international rescuers, and 25,846 volunteers, who have assisted 20,909 patients since the emergency began.
In terms of humanitarian assistance, the official report records the distribution of 9,486 tons of food, 78,478 food bags, and 453,326 liters of water, as well as the establishment of 59 temporary camps for those who lost their homes.
Thousands of people remain missing under the rubble of the residential complexes that collapsed mainly in La Guaira, a figure that the UN estimates could reach 50,000, far exceeding the official toll from the regime of Delcy Rodríguez.
Among the foreign victims, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Spain confirmed that 32 Spanish citizens lost their lives, while 142 remain missing and 11 are still trapped under the rubble.
The Cuban community in Venezuela has also been severely impacted.
A Cuban family of six was found dead on June 29 under the rubble of the Oasis Beach and Resjurel buildings in Playa Grande, and at least 20 Cubans living in the coastal area were reported missing.
The Cuban regime, however, declared on June 27 that it had no "official confirmation" of compatriots injured, deceased, or missing, contradicting the testimonies of dozens of families searching for their loved ones.
The death toll has steadily increased from the 164 reported fatalities on June 25 to the current 2,645, and the doubts regarding the Venezuelan government’s transparency in managing information are growing as rescue efforts continue.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) initially estimated a 42% probability that the final number of victims would be between 10,000 and 100,000, a projection that starkly contrasts with the official data from Caracas and fuels suspicions about the true extent of the disaster.
Filed under: