Here's the latest
• Death toll soars: Rescuers are racing to find survivors of the twin earthquakes in Venezuela as more than three days have passed since the disaster. At least 1,430 people have died.
• Rescue complications: Frequent aftershocks on the ground are hampering rescue efforts and hospitals are struggling to treat the injured after decades of neglect for Venezuela’s healthcare system.
• Global response: A US official said one of the runways at the international airport near Caracas is now operational, easing a key bottleneck for the influx of aid from other countries. In addition to supplies, the US and other nations have sent specialized search and rescue teams to help on the ground.
• Here’s how you can help earthquake victims.
Venezuelans with missing family members voice frustration over lack of heavy machinery
Venezuelans with family members still missing in the powerful earthquakes that rocked the country on Wednesday night are calling for heavy machinery to assist the ongoing search and rescue operations.
At the ruins of a building in the town of Caraballeda, a woman named Ana Ancheta whose relative has not been found expressed her frustrations at the lack of machinery for teams sorting through the huge amounts of debris.
Industrial engineer Alejandro Serrano, 33, said there was a “strong smell of death” at the scene of the collapsed building. He added that machine operators who had pledged to come and help clear the rubble have yet to show up.
EU mobilizes $5.6 million in emergency relief funds, bloc's foreign affairs chief says
The European Union (EU) has mobilized €5 million (USD $5.6 million) in emergency assistance for communities affected by the earthquakes in Venezuela, the EU’s foreign affairs chief said Sunday.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas said she held a phone call with Venezuelan acting President Delcy Rodríguez following the disaster.
“I conveyed the EU’s full solidarity with the Venezuelan people and our deepest condolences to the families of those who lost loved ones,” Kallas wrote on X.
She continued, “The EU has already mobilised €5 million in emergency assistance for affected communities.”
UNICEF: 680,000 children in need of humanitarian assistance
Around 680,000 children are estimated to be in need of humanitarian assistance following the earthquakes in Venezuela, according to UNICEF.
Hospitals across Caracas as well as the states of La Guaira, Carabobo, Aragua and Falcón have sustained severe damage in the disaster, which has pushed some facilities to critical capacity. According to a UNICEF statement released Sunday, this is disrupting care for pregnant women and children.
In Caracas, preliminary information suggests 432 schools have been damaged, which is “hindering children’s education,” while authorities are using undamaged schools as temporary shelters for displaced families, the statement said.
Satellite photos show the scope of the damage in Macuto, Venezuela
Satellite imagery of Venezuela taken before and after the earthquakes shows the scale of destruction in Macuto, a seaside city in the hard-hit state of La Guaira. In the first set of images released by Planet Labs on Saturday, one can see the rubble of the Hotel Eduard, a large waterfront hotel.
Rescuer in Venezuela locates, reassures woman trapped under rubble
Video shared by El Salvador President Nayib Bukele reportedly showed the moment a Salvadorian rescuer locates a woman, identified as Belkys Barreto, trapped under rubble in Caraballeda, and reassures her that help is near.
“We are the El Salvador Humanitarian and Rescue Unit (UHR), and we’re here to rescue you!” the rescuer shouts into the rubble. “Thank you!” Barreto’s muffled voice is heard responding.
“I just want you to stay calm, and we will proceed to get you out,” the rescuer reassures Barreto.
Posting the video on social media Saturday night, Bukele wrote that 10 Salvadorian rescuers are “working tirelessly to reach her, advancing carefully due to the conditions of the structure.”
Barreto’s son, Carlos Jaspe Barreto, confirmed his mother was found alive Saturday and thanked the authorities on social media.
“I want us to keep on praying so that they finish getting her out of there and that we find more people,” he said in an Instagram video. “Folks, we need to keep on helping. There are still a lot of people who are alive and trapped under the rubble of buildings.”
Call for psychological support as Venezuela grieves earthquake victims
Venezuela’s next challenge will be coping with grief and the need for psychological support as families come to terms with the loss of loved ones in the earthquakes, the IFRC said, adding that “psychological first aid is one of the top priorities.”
“We’re going to be going through that grief, realizing that our loved ones… relatives, friends, pets, are no longer with us,” regional communications manager Susana Arroyo Barrantes told CNN’s Newsroom.
The humanitarian network announced a 20 million CHF ($24.7 million) appeal to fund a two-year program offering healthcare, water, and psychological support.
“This is becoming a transnational disaster,” Barrantes later added. “There are millions of Venezuelans living in other Latin American countries. They are also desperately looking for their relatives, their loved ones.”
Boy, 11, rescued 3 days after Venezuela earthquakes
Another child was rescued from the rubble in Venezuela’s La Guaira region, marking a poignant moment at the close of a long and emotionally charged day of crisis response on Saturday.
Rescuers in hard hats and high-visibility overalls carried a person down a mound of rubble as others approached with a stretcher, seen in footage shared by Venezuela’s Acting President Delcy Rodríguez.
Some held torches to light the way as floodlights appeared to illuminate the rubble against the darkness of night.
“A short while ago, an 11-year-old boy was rescued alive in Caraballeda. In these hours, every life is hope for Venezuela,” Rodríguez said on X late Saturday local time.
Earlier on Saturday, another 11-year-old, Moisés, was rescued from the La Guaira region after rescuers spent hours trying to reach him.
“Moisés was rescued alive and is safe!” said Colombia’s UNGRD which helped with the rescue. “After six hours of highly precise work, our rescuers reached the boy, who was 3 meters underground, and brought him to a safe extraction.”
Where things stand as Venezuela quake rescue operation passes "golden" window
It’s been more than three days since the deadly twin earthquakes hit Venezuela — which means the critical window to reach people buried under rubble has closed. Historically, the first 48 to 72 hours are widely regarded as the “golden” window to reach survivors. After that period, the chances of survival without a water source diminish rapidly.
Venezuela’s National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez confirmed that the death toll has risen to at least 1,430 people. At least 3,238 people have been injured and 3,142 families have lost their homes, according to Rodríguez.
Here’s where things stand:
- Help from afar: Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodríguez said on Saturday night that 24 countries have sent aid and a total of 2,741 rescuers to help with search operations. Rescuers are coming from countries including Mexico, the United States, El Salvador, Switzerland, Colombia, Spain, Ecuador, Chile, the Dominican Republic and Panama.
- Runway reopens: One of the runways at Simón Bolívar International Airport near Caracas is operational, allowing an increase in assistance from abroad, according to a US official. The other runway remains “completely cracked and inoperable,” they noted.
- More on US aid: Mobile hospitals were arriving in Venezuela on Saturday, according to the official, and the US is also working to get more Starlink terminals into the country, where a lack of connectivity is adding to the agonizing wait for news on loved ones.
- Electricity restoration: Venezuelan authorities said workers have managed to restore 60% of the electricity supply in La Guaira, the coastal state hit hardest by the twin earthquakes.
- Emergency hotline: The Venezuelan government has activated a new earthquake hotline to report missing people or request assistance, the presidency announced Saturday. The hotline number is 0800-RESCATE (0800-7372282) and will be added to the VenApp platform.
Rescuers in Venezuela are in a race against time and battling aftershocks
The rescue effort in Venezuela has reached a grim inflection point. As of Saturday evening, 72 hours have passed since the two deadly earthquakes on Wednesday – a critical window for rescuing those still trapped under rubble.
Rescue workers continue to search through the rubble three days after earthquakes struck Venezuela. CNN’s Mary Triny Mena reports.
After three days, the chances of someone surviving without water decrease rapidly. However, some studies indicate that many rescues of survivors can still take place within the first five or six days following a disaster.
David Emmanuel Villa Tejeda, who is in Caracas with the Mexican rescue team Los Topos, or Moles, said the situation on the ground is “difficult” since the damaged buildings are very tall and there are so many to search.
“It’s difficult because the earthquakes came one after another, and weren’t very deep,” Villa Tejeda told journalists accompanying the rescue efforts in Venezuela, “That’s what caused so many buildings to fall.”
The outlook is negative, at least in the building where he was working in the capital. He said that, because of the way the structure collapsed, “it’s becoming very difficult to find them alive.”
Nonetheless, Tejeda is holding on to hope. His team has been in situations where “we’ve pulled out people after 10 days, under the rubble, still alive.”
Loyce Pace, the Red Cross’ Regional Director for the Americas, told CNN that the frequent aftershocks following the earthquakes are affecting the rescue efforts for survivors trapped in collapsed buildings.
“I don’t know if people are aware of how constant this threat has been,” said Pace. A Venezuelan official said earlier Saturday that there have been at least 430 successive aftershocks since the two major earthquakes.
“There are continuous tremors every time I talk on the phone with my team there,” Pace continued. “It is something quite constant and quite frightening. This means our teams must be very careful when entering these communities to assess the damage or provide services.”
