Venezuela welcomes 1,600 foreign rescuers in urgent search for quake survivors
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Returning to the building where she lived in La Guaira, Venezuela, on June 26, Dr Zaira Medina (left) is embraced by a member of the rescue team who informed her that no survivors had been found, two days after the earthquakes.
PHOTO: FABIOLA FERRERO/NYTIMES
CARACAS - Venezuela’s government said on June 27 that 1,600 members of foreign rescue teams had arrived to help search for survivors of the devastating twin earthquakes that killed more than 900 people this week as it tightened access to the worst-affected state.
Residents and volunteers in La Guaira, a popular destination for beachgoers where at least 100 buildings, many of them residential high-rises, were destroyed or damaged, have for days decried shortages of heavy equipment and a limited official presence.
Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez said in an overnight address on state television that 10 more countries were still to join rescue efforts and 14,000 military and police members were in La Guaira to patrol and take sanitary measures.
“In recent hours, Venezuela has received 17 flights carrying more than 1,600 members of rescue teams, and over the next 24 hours, the arrival of 25 additional flights is expected,” said Foreign Ministry official Oliver Blanco.
“We thank the international community for its support and solidarity during these moments of uncertainty for Venezuelans,” Blanco added on social media platform X in the early hours of June 27.
Members of the Mexican army searching for survivors with a rescue dog in Caraballeda, in Venezuela’s La Guaira state, on June 26.
PHOTO: AFP
Rescuers have been making their way to sites around La Guaira state and Venezuela’s capital Caracas, although on June 26, some areas were still largely without an official presence as families and neighbours struggled to find missing loved ones in the rubble, sometimes digging with their hands.
Officials closed the road between La Guaira and nearby Caracas on the evening of June 26, saying heavy traffic was preventing quick passage of emergency vehicles and official rescuers.
A video screengrab shows rescue personnel from Spain searching for survivors in a location given as La Guaira, Venezuela.
PHOTO: VIA REUTERS
Civilians who are not part of official rescue teams will need a credential to pass the roadblock and Reuters witnesses were prevented from using the main road on the morning of June 27 by police, while an older secondary road was choked with traffic.
The government had previously thanked civilians who brought aid, often by motorcycle, to desperate residents. Venezuelan state television showed images of thousands of pairs of shoes, clothing and other aid being collected by the government.
A member of a rescue team from El Salvador holding a dog as the search for survivors continues in La Guaira, Venezuela.
PHOTO: REUTERS
While the power remained out near the quakes’ epicentre in Moron on June 26, as well as fully down in La Guaira, it was being restored in other places, with Rodriguez saying that 60 per cent of electricity had now been restored.
Venezuela’s power grid, crippled by years of underinvestment and economic sanctions, regularly experiences problems, leading to daily, hours-long blackouts in some regions.
54,000 missing
Although the government has said hundreds are missing or trapped, more than 54,000 people are listed as unaccounted for on a website promoted by the country’s opposition.
The US Geological Survey estimated that more than 10,000 deaths were possible from the 7.2-magnitude and 7.5-magnitude quakes, which would place them among Latin America’s deadliest of the last century.
Nearly seven million people could be affected, the UN said, estimating direct damage at about US$6.7 billion (S$8.7 billion).
The disaster could have political consequences for Rodriguez, who has tried to portray herself as an agent of change, even though she served as vice-president to Nicolas Maduro, who was ousted and arrested by the US in January.
A firefighter screaming through a tube to people under the rubble of a collapsed building in La Guaira, Venezuela, on June 26.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Rodriguez spoke by phone with US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on June 26 after meeting with the US military’s Northern Command and disaster experts.
The US said it was mobilising US$150 million in aid and easing sanctions, while its military dispatched two ships and said helicopters and aircraft would support rescue efforts.
Among the rescue teams working in La Guaira are a team from El Salvador, whose President Nayib Bukele has hailed multiple rescues on his X account, including that of a 15-year-old girl.
Looting has taken place at several sites in La Guaira, Reuters witnesses said.
Venezuela’s oil production was not affected by the quakes, Oil Minister Paula Henao said on June 26, adding that fuel distribution would be guaranteed.
Oil executives and workers said the sector had avoided major infrastructure damage. REUTERS
