Death toll in Venezuela quakes tops 1,400 as rescuers race to pull out survivors

 Live  Updated  20 minutes ago  BBC  NEWS 

Summary

• The death toll from Venezuela's earthquakes is now 1,430, with 3,238 injured, according to lawmaker Jorge Rodríguez
• He describes the incident as "the most disastrous event this republic has suffered in the last 123 years"
• Rescuers are racing to pull out survivors as the 72-hour window nears its end
• One family is anxiously listening for signs their loved one survived, telling BBC Mundo they heard him "groan" under the debris
• A newborn baby is among the survivors rescued from the rubble - watch the emotional moment
• Acting President Delcy Rodríguez says she is hopeful that teams will find survivors
• The quakes, with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, hit less than a minute apart while most were home for a national holiday - how locals are describing the scenes

Live Reporting

Edited by Tinshui Yeung, with Nicole Kolster in La Guaira and Orla Guerin in Valencia

Published at 13:27

Growing frustration at pace of government response

Will Grant

Reporting from La Guaira

The situation in the coastal town of La Guaira is dire.

This is where the majority of the estimated 50,000 missing are believed to be, an unknown number of them buried beneath the rubble.

In the collapsed building in front of me, three bodies were just pulled from the concrete and twisted rebar, and rescuers believe they have located a fourth.

Nearby, in another flattened apartment block, there was better news - with two people pulled out alive.

But tensions here are growing at the pace and co-ordination of the government’s response.

While the scale of this tragedy would present a challenge for any country, many residents have complained about what they see as a hesitant and mismanaged reaction.

They say it has been the people themselves who have pulled together in this emergency.

International support is now on site in La Guaira, with rescue teams from Mexico, Brazil and elsewhere working around the clock.

Published at 13:19

All the figures lawmaker Jorge Rodríguez told us earlier

Image source, Reuters

As we reported earlier, Venezuela's top lawmaker Jorge Rodríguez has given an update on the latest death toll.

• He’s shared more detail about the earthquake. Here’s a summary of what he said earlier: Rodríguez says 1,430 of "our brothers and sisters" have died and that 3,238 injured people have received care
• He adds that 3,142 affected families are being cared for in shelters
• Hospitals have given direct medical care in more than 5,000 cases
• In disaster areas, more than 7,500 triage assessments and over 12,000 medical consultations were carried out
• More than 73,700 families have received direct assistance and 7.2 million kg of food has been distributed in the disaster zones, particularly in the hardest-hit La Guaira state
• Twenty-one international delegations have been deployed to help rescue efforts, totalling 2,242 rescue workers and 96 canine units
• More than 30,000 people, including military and police officers, rescue workers, medical and paramedic staff, support workers, psychologists and other specialised workers, are assisting

Published at 12:48

US Geological Survey estimate suggests death toll could be higher

Esme Stallard
Senior climate and science reporter

As we've reported, Venezuelan officials say the latest death toll is 1,430, with 3,238 injured.

However, after the earthquake, the US Geological Survey's (USGS) estimate of potential fatalities in the region is most likely between 10,000 and 100,000.

This is not an exact figure of the number of people that may have died - it could be higher or lower.

The USGS issues this figure to help emergency responders, government agencies and the media understand how potentially significant this event is and deploy resources effectively.

The organisation uses something called the PAGER system to calculate this figure.

It looks at many factors including the size of the earthquake, how far below the surface the earthquake started, the amount of ground shaking and the population in the area that could have been exposed. And then, based off of previous earthquakes with similar characteristics it gives us a figure.

But many other factors play into the potential injuries and deaths, including the quality of the buildings and the time of day.

If people are sleeping when earthquakes occur, it increases the likelihood of not being able to evacuate.

The figure will get updated as more information comes through. But this event has been given a red alert - of which there are usually only 1-2 a year.

Published at 12:24

High-rise buildings flattened in before-and-after shots

A series of before-and-after images show the destruction in Caraballeda, a town in the state of La Guaira.

Several high-rise buildings have been completely reduced to rubble.

La Guaira is the area that has been worst affected by the twin earthquakes on Wednesday evening.

Image source,ReutersImage caption,
Before: an aerial shot shows structures intact

Image source,ReutersImage caption,
After: widespread destruction with buildings reduced to rubble

Image source,ReutersImage caption,
Before: high-rise buildings stand tall

Image source,ReutersImage caption,
After: several buildings completely flattened

Published at 12:00

Venezuela issuing us with temporary accreditation to visit La Guaira

 Will Grant
North America correspondent, reporting on the way to La Guaira

Amid the devastation, Venezuela briefly waived its normally strict visa rules and let the international media in.

Now, after the event, the authorities are issuing us with temporary accreditations and are controlling press access to the worst-hit area of La Guaira.

We have all been loaded on to state buses and are on our way to the coast to witness the rescue teams in action and see the destruction. It’s not clear if we will have free rein to move around and film.

But after the initial impact and confusion of the twin earthquakes, this feels like the government’s attempt to impose some order on the chaos.

Critics say that should hardly be the priority in a tragedy of these dimensions.



Published at 11:51

'Survivability reduces' with every hour that passes, rescuer says

Katie Williams
Live reporter
Image source, Josh Macabuag

I’ve just spoken to Josh Macabuag, an engineer at UK-based charity Search and Rescue Assistance in Disasters (Saraid).

Saraid is working to assist rescue efforts in Venezuela.

While many have been talking about a 72-hour "golden window" for rescues, he says there is "no hard cut-off" but, essentially, "time is of the essence".

With every hour, "survivability reduces" with survival rates falling in a "continuous curve".

Macabuag, who has on-the-ground experience in the aftermath of the 2023 Turkey-Syria earthquake, says the last person his team saved was "well over 100 hours later", although these sort of "miracle" rescues are "rare".