Death toll from Venezuela quakes rises to just over 3,300

The death toll from Venezuela's twin earthquakes has ⁠risen to 3,342, according to numbers released by the Venezuelan information ministry.

The new tally also puts the number of ‌injured at ⁠16,470 while the number of homeless has risen to 17,345.

The 24 June earthquakes collapsed scores of buildings, leaving thousands homeless, especially in the coastal La Guaira area north of the capital Caracas.

In a speech commemorating Venezuela's ‌215th independence day, interim President Delcy Rodríguez ⁠defended the government's actions ‌following the quakes.

Her remarks came amid growing frustration over ⁠what ‌many have called a delayed and inadequate response to the disaster.

Ms Rodríguez ⁠said she deployed security forces ⁠immediately and announced the creation of a new military unit to help deal with emergencies and disasters.

She said the country would not descend into social unrest after one of Latin America's worst earthquake disasters.

"There will be no social unrest here, what we have here is deep social solidarity," she said.

Many Venezuelans have expressed anger at what they see as the US-backed government's inadequate response to the disaster before international teams arrived.

Eleven days after the double shocks, international rescue teams are wrapping up operations to find more survivors while families are still trying to dig out the bodies of loved ones from the wreckage.

The critical window for rescues in disasters like earthquakes usually ends after 72 hours, but a few people have been found alive this week.

In an apparent sign that rescue missions were closing up, Ms Rodríguez held a ceremony to hand out medals to international teams, including their rescue dogs.

Venezuela is experiencing "a profound grief gripping our people, where families still hold out hope of finding loved ones alive, people who have lost everything", she said.

International disaster teams, including some US squads and some South American teams, were starting to finish up rescue operations, their members said on Saturday.

The Los Angeles County fire department rescue team is ending operations after its latest searches showed no signs of life, and teams from Florida and Virginia were packing up to leave this weekend, they said.

In La Guaira, workers with heavy machinery on Saturday were starting to knock down collapsed structures while in others, families were still trying to remove bodies of loved ones for funerals.

"We're still working, still searching for bodies. We're still going. It hasn't been easy," said Venezuelan volunteer Francisco Sasquia helping dig out a collapsed residence.

"We found two bodies that have already been released to their families."

The United Nations has estimated that the twin earthquakes caused $6.7 billion (€5.8 billion) in physical damage, equivalent to 6% of GDP for Venezuela, an oil exporting country.

Even before last week's disaster struck, Venezuela had struggled with decades of economic crisis and political upheaval that undermined its infrastructure and health services.

Maiquetia international airport in La Guaira, which serves Caracas, was also damaged in the quakes.

It has reopened partially to allow humanitarian flights to land, but commercial flights are still suspended.

"We are in touch with some international partners, countries that will help in restoring the Maiquetia international airport," Ms Rodríguez said at another event.

"A plan will be ready next week," she added.

For Víctor Colivert, the most important thing now was staying by the side of his nephew's body, recovered from a building's wreckage and now in a black body bag.

He fears losing it in the chaos.

His family prevented forensic workers from taking the body away.

"If I have to go to China, to wherever, but I'm not leaving him alone," he said, adding: "I'm going with him."