Hope amid rubble as Venezuela quake toll nears 1,500; rescuers race against time

Rescue teams continued combing collapsed buildings in Venezuela after the twin earthquakes, pulling more survivors from the rubble. With the 72-hour window narrowing and the death toll rising, authorities said the search would go on.

In Short

• La Guaira remained worst hit, with 774 buildings collapsed, schools shut
• Electricity in La Guaira was restored to 75 per cent
• Over 2,600 foreign rescuers joined locals after days of limited equipment

Rescue operations continued across Venezuela on Sunday as teams searched through collapsed buildings for survivors following two powerful earthquakes that struck the country last week. Amid the devastation, occasional signs of life offered hope to rescuers racing against time as the death toll climbed close to 1,500, according to news agency Reuters.

The twin earthquakes that struck on June 24 caused widespread destruction in La Guaira, the worst-hit state, located around 40 km north of Caracas. Several buildings collapsed into heaps of rubble and sand, leaving thousands missing and forcing emergency teams from several countries to join the search effort.

Interim President Delcy Rodriguez said rescue and recovery operations would continue after teams managed to pull people alive from the debris. She announced the formation of a presidential commission to assess whether damaged buildings remained safe for residents.

"Rescue and recovery efforts are ongoing. Today (Sunday) we have recovered people alive and, therefore, operations are not being suspended. We always maintain hope," Rodriguez said.

Standing alongside several ministers, Rodriguez said schools would remain closed for another week and that electricity supply in La Guaira had been restored to 75 per cent.

The government, which has been led by Rodriguez after her predecessor, Nicolas Maduro, was removed by the United States in a January raid, earlier thanked civilian volunteers who transported aid to affected areas. However, authorities later restricted road access, citing congestion caused by aid traffic and the need to keep routes clear for emergency vehicles.

Jorge Rodriguez, president of the National Assembly and brother of the interim president, said the death toll had increased by 20 on Sunday, reaching 1,450. He said 3,150 people were injured, 12,721 had been displaced, and 774 buildings had collapsed.

"We are in critical hours, in crucial hours to continue rescuing lives and to build camps where those people who have lost their homes, or who cannot return, for whatever reason, to their residences can stay," he said.

Before the arrival of more than 2,600 foreign rescue workers, families and local volunteers had spent days searching through debris with limited heavy equipment and a reduced official presence. Hundreds of aftershocks further damaged structures and kept residents fearful.

The government said at least 33 people had been rescued by Saturday evening, including several children. However, thousands remained unaccounted for, with conflicting figures emerging over the number of missing.

A website promoted by Venezuela's opposition listed nearly 50,000 people as missing on Sunday, down slightly from around 55,000 a day earlier. The government has reported a far lower number of people trapped or missing.

RACE AGAINST TIME FOR SURVIVOURS

The US Geological Survey estimated that the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes could potentially result in more than 10,000 deaths, which would make them among the deadliest earthquakes in Latin America in the past century.

Rescue teams warned that the chances of finding survivors has decreased sharply after the first 72 hours following a disaster.

"There exists a window of roughly three days, 72 hours, where the probability afterwards decreases that you can save people alive," said Sebastian Eugster, leader of the Swiss rescue team.

The 80-member Swiss team located several people alive under the rubble using eight trained search dogs, but Eugster said some victims could not be reached in time.

Saturday evening marked 72 hours since the earthquakes struck.

CHILDREN AMONG THOSE RESCUED

International rescue teams reported several dramatic rescues over the weekend.

The US State Department praised the rescue of an infant by American crews on Saturday, sharing a video on X showing rescuers carrying the blanket-wrapped child out of the rubble.

A Colombian rescue team also saved an 11-year-old boy, Moises, who had been trapped about three metres beneath debris, according to Reuters TV.

Rescuers located him using a scanner before pulling him out with a broken arm. His eyes were covered to protect them from sudden exposure to daylight. His mother and sister were killed in the collapse.

Mexican rescuers working at a collapsed building in Caraballeda rescued another 11-year-old boy, Rodriguez said in a post on X late Saturday, sharing footage of crews carrying the child away on a stretcher.

Pope Leo, addressing worshippers during the Angelus prayer in Rome on Sunday, expressed solidarity with Venezuelans affected by the earthquakes and thanked rescue workers involved in the relief efforts.

A senior US official said a funding package worth hundreds of millions of dollars was expected to be announced soon, in addition to the USD 150 million already committed by the Trump administration.

Meanwhile, opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado said on Sunday that she planned to return to Venezuela. Machado had been living in hiding since the 2024 presidential election, which international observers said was won by the opposition, before leaving the country in December to receive her prize.

A White House official said Machado's planned return had frustrated some senior officials in Washington, who believed it was too soon following the disaster.

Separately, Venezuela's largest refinery, the 6,45,000-barrel-per-day Amuay facility, halted operations on Sunday after a major power outage in western Falcon state, according to workers at the refinery.

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