A section of the Colegio Agustiniano San Judas Tadeo, located in the La Pastora sector of Caracas, collapsed on Friday without resulting in any fatalities, nine days after the double earthquake that has caused at least 2,645 deaths in Venezuela.
The collapsed area included the primary school buildings and the classrooms for the first, second, and third years of high school.
The school is located at the edge of a ravine, with houses at the bottom where debris fell, affecting at least four homes and leaving one injured: a man who suffered a convulsive episode due to the shock and was taken to a hospital, where he is in stable condition.
José Luis Bencomo, a 67-year-old neighbor, described the moment of the collapse to the EFE agency: "Half of the school gave way and everyone ran."
The man added that "when the sediments fell, everyone ran, even the children; it felt like an earthquake," and he warned that the school's retaining wall is also compromised.
Lenys Niño, 48 years old and mother-in-law of the injured man, confirmed that he is stable, although she noted that several of her acquaintances "lost many families" due to the earthquakes.
Caracas Fire Department reported on Instagram that a perimeter wall of the facility collapsed and that they carried out a "preventive cordoning of the entire area to mitigate any secondary risks to the nearby community" surrounding the educational center.
The neighbors in the area expressed that they live in constant alert since the earthquakes and that any sound startles them as they await a response from the authorities.
The double earthquake on June 24, 2026, with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, and its epicenter near Morón, in the state of Yaracuy, is the most powerful seismic event recorded in Venezuela since 1900.
In addition to the 2,645 deceased, the official count indicates 12,666 injured, while the UN estimates up to 50,000 missing and 6.76 million affected.
The extent of the damage to the infrastructure is equally alarming. According to official figures, 885 buildings were affected, 189 of which completely collapsed. An assessment by NASA based on satellite images estimates that around 58,870 buildings could be damaged or destroyed throughout the affected region.
In the educational sphere, more than 432 schools in the Capital District were damaged by the earthquakes, and UNICEF warned that over 680,000 children need urgent humanitarian assistance. The acting president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, suspended classes in all educational institutions across the country for this week, a measure extended until July 5.
The collapse of the school in La Pastora illustrates the latent risk that remains in structures weakened by earthquakes, even days after the main event. The United Nations Development Programme estimated the direct damages from the double earthquake at 6.7 billion dollars, equivalent to 6% of Venezuela's gross domestic product.
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