The death toll from two earthquakes in Venezuela has risen to 1,430 as the search for survivors intensifies in the remaining hours of the survival window.
Residents have taken the search for missing loved ones into their own hands, citing a shortage of government rescuers and thousands of people remaining missing.
Aid agencies consider the first 48 to 72 hours the โgolden windowโ for extracting people buried under the rubble, although this can be extended if they have access to food and water.
Oscar Perez hugs his family after reuniting with them three days after the earthquake in La Guaira. (AP Photo/Mathias Delacroix)
As of Saturday local time, 172 people were trapped, 3,238 injured and 3,100 homeless, according to the Venezuelan government.
Thousands of people are known to be missing.
Electricity has been restored to 60 percent of affected areas, and telecommunications are expected to help reunite separated families.
Rescuers from all over the world were sent to Venezuela. (AP Photo: Pedro Mattei)
Rising death toll and damage
Just after 6 pm on Wednesday, two successive earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 reduced parts of northern Venezuela to rubble.
The earthquakes, which occurred within 39 seconds of each other, caused damage estimated at US$6.7 billion ($9.7 billion), according to the UN.
A building collapsed in La Guaira, a coastal city about 30 kilometers north of Caracas, on Wednesday local time. (Reuters: Maxwell Briceno)
The second earthquake was the most powerful to hit Venezuela in more than a century.
The UNโs International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a statement that โup to 6.76 million people will be affectedโ, based on an analysis of population and damage.
Forecast modeling by the US Geological Survey shows the death toll will likely rise into the thousands.
Patients lie outside the damaged hospital in Catia la Mar, which had to be evacuated. (AP Photo: Pedro Mattei)
More resources needed
Acting President Delcy Rodriguez said her government was taking comprehensive measures at โcritical hours to save lives.โ
Delcy Rodriguez surveys the area damaged by the earthquake. (Handouts / Presidency of Venezuela / AFP)
Ms. Rodriguez said in a late-night address on state television that 14,000 military and police officers were in La Guaira on patrol and carrying out sanitary measures.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Oliver Blanco said 17 flights carrying more than 1,600 rescue team members had also arrived.
โOver the next 25 hours, another 25 flights are expected to arrive,โ he said.
Mr. Blanco said.
But residents say more resources are urgently needed, criticizing the official response to the disaster.
Lawyer Ricardo Trias, 73, was trying to obtain the death certificate for his godson Armando Lopez, 54.
Mr Lopezโs body was pulled from the rubble of his home in the coastal town of Caraballeda on Thursday evening and remained at the scene.
โWe want them to give us the bodyโฆ we canโt take it and it will rot here,โ Mr Trias said.
โNo forensic examination arrived.โ
In La Guaira, north of the capital, Nazareth Jimenez sobbed into a loved oneโs shoulder as she watched neighbors use hammers and power tools to try to cut through concrete slabs in a pile of rubble.
Her brothers and sisters, nephews, nieces and friends were in this building during the earthquake.
โWe are calling for help from governments and countries around the world,โ Ms. Jimenez said, pleading for equipment capable of moving collapsed structures.
โThere are still people alive there.โ
International assistance obligations
Venezuelan authorities said Friday that there are 861 volunteers in the country from Mexico, the United States, El Salvador, Switzerland, Colombia and other countries, with many more coming from elsewhere.
A search and rescue team from the Mexican Army joined the recovery efforts. (AP Photo: Matthias Delacorix)
The United States said it was sending two warships, transport planes and helicopters and US$150 million ($217 million) in aid, while British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said his government was sending 2 million pounds ($3.8 million) in humanitarian aid along with a 68-member search and rescue team, including six specialized search dogs.
Ms Rodriguez said the government was creating a US$200 million reconstruction fund for hospitals and homes damaged by the earthquakes.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has launched an emergency appeal for 50 million Swiss francs ($90 million) to help its operations in Venezuela.
The first 17 tons of humanitarian aid left the IFRC regional humanitarian center in Panama for Venezuela on Friday.
โ with wires