The number of deaths from Venezuela’s devastating twin earthquakes have jumped to at least 2,954, an updated official count showed Saturday.
The death toll has risen by over 300 since Friday, with more than 16,500 people injured in last month’s disaster. Thousands remain unaccounted for.
On June 24, two back-to-back earthquakes rocked Venezuela in what quickly became one of the worst quake disasters that Latin America has witnessed.
With a magnitude of 7.2 and 7.5, the consecutive earthquakes struck just seconds apart and hit the coastal La Guaira area north of the capital Caracas the hardest.
Authorities have recorded a total of 942 aftershocks since the quakes.
Rescue operations wind down
International rescuers have started to wrap up a frantic search for survivors with a critical 72-hour rescue window in earthquakes long passed.
A few people were found alive this week, despite the slim chances of survival.
The Venezuelan government has not given any estimates of the missing but the United Nations puts the number of people unaccounted for at as many as 50,000.
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International disaster squads, including some US and South American teams were starting to wind down rescue operations, news agency AFP cited their members as saying on Saturday.
The rescue teams from Florida and Virginia are reported to be heading back home this weekend.
The Los Angeles County fire department rescue team is also ending its mandate in Venezuela after its latest search operation showed no signs of life.
Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodriquez handed out medals to international teams, including their rescue dogs, in an apparent indication that the rescue missions were packing up.
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,” Rodriquez said.
Rodriguez defends government response to quake disaster
Venezuela’s acting president has strongly rejected allegations that her government’s reaction time to the quakes was too slow.
Several Venezuelans have expressed anger saying that families spent the crucial initial hours digging out their relatives themselves.
Civilians searching through the debris alongside international aid organizations say assistance like food and medical supplies were delayed and there was a continuing lack of heavy machinery to move the wreckage.
Rodriguez defended her government’s response saying that thousands of troops and officials had been deployed.
On Saturday, workers with heavy machinery were starting to knock down structures that had caved-in in La Guaira.
“We’re still working, still searching for bodies. We’re still going. It hasn’t been easy,” Venezuelan volunteer Francisco Sasquia told AFP.
“We found two bodies that have already been released to their families,” he added.
Over 16,000 people are homeless, according to official data. Some are are currently housed in official shelters and others in tented camps.
Edited by: Dmytro Hubenko
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