The death toll from Venezuela's devastating back-to-back earthquakes has surged to at least 589, acting President Delcy Rodríguez announced early Friday, with thousands still missing and frantic search-and-rescue operations ongoing.
Rodríguez made the announcement flanked by government and military officials as she welcomed the arrival of international rescue crews. She said the state of La Guaira had been hardest hit and had been placed under military control to coordinate survivor searches and the distribution of food and water. "We are going to rescue the people who are trapped," she said. "We are working tirelessly on this task."
The International Organization for Migration warned that up to 6.76 million people across Venezuela could be affected by the disaster, with around 2 million of those in the capital, Caracas, alone.
Around 1,000 emergency responders across 25 search-and-rescue teams are deploying to Venezuela, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Rescuers with specialist equipment, including cameras and ground-penetrating radar arrived from Spain on Friday, with teams from Germany, Chile and Switzerland also landing. Turkey, China, Qatar, Brazil, Portugal and Canada have all pledged assistance.
Venezuelans searched for survivors beneath collapsed buildings on Thursday, and rescue teams raced to northern areas rocked by a pair of powerful earthquakes that officials now say killed around 235 people and left more than 4,300 others injured.
"Unfortunately we have received around 235 patients who arrive without vital signs or die when they arrive at our health facilities," said Health Minister Carlos Alvarado to state-run media on Thursday.
But the number of dead and injured is expected to rise, with thousands reported missing after the 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes that struck Wednesday evening, which was among the strongest in Venezuela in more than a century and was felt throughout the region.
Buildings were evacuated as far away from the epicentre as Brazil's Amazon.
In response to the devastation, the US Treasury on Thursday moved to waive some sanctions until 23 October to allow transactions related to earthquake relief efforts in Venezuela that would otherwise be prohibited.
Meanwhile, in cities across northern Venezuela, panicked residents poured into the streets and searched for the missing in the debris.
The injured were pulled out of the rubble covered in dust and blood, among them children and animals.
Venezuelan state-run TV showed dramatic images of rescues, including a woman who was trapped under a cement slab, only a barefoot poking out before crews managed to get her out alive. Residents of the affected areas however complained that government crews have been limited in deployment.
In the capital, Dayana Delgado, a mother of three, asked where the heavy machinery was that government officials had promised, pointing out that neighbours were the ones digging through the rubble.
"I want to know where my child is, if he's trapped or in a shelter," she said of her 8-year-old son who remains missing.
The coastal region of La Guaira, north of the capital, Caracas, suffered some of the heaviest damage and casualties. The country's main airport is there and was closed due to damage, complicating aid efforts.
Offers to send aid and supplies poured in from around the world, including from the United States, which seized Venezuela's then-president Nicolas Maduro at the beginning of the year in a stunning military operation.
The natural disaster is just the latest challenge for acting President Delcy Rodríguez, the former vice president who took office in January after Maduro's capture.
Caracas has been facing economic disarray for more than a decade, and many people reject the legitimacy of the political movement Rodríguez represents.
Venezuelan authorities said they were diverting rescue teams from other parts of the country to La Guaira, which is no stranger to natural disasters. A 1999 mudslide killed thousands in what is considered one of the country's worst natural disasters.
Rodríguez appealed to businesses on Thursday to make heavy construction equipment available for rescue operations.
"We hope to rescue as many living people as possible," said the acting president, who referred to La Guaira as a "disaster zone."
