Venezuela a week after the earthquake: almost 2300 dead, missing likely more than 40 thousand

Destruction in Los Corales, photo Ricardo Mazalan / AP

According to government data published on Wednesday, the earthquakes killed 2,295 people, more than 11,000 were injured, and almost 13,000 were left homeless.

An unofficial but widely used list of missing persons counts 40,567 people. According to UN estimates, 50,000 people are missing.

This week, a UN official stated that the organization is procuring 10,000 body bags, and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimated that more than 10,000 people might have died as a result of the earthquakes. According to a preliminary assessment of satellite data published by NASA, the earthquakes likely damaged or destroyed 58,870 buildings.

As reported to journalists on Wednesday by General Francis Donovan, head of U.S. Southern Command, approximately 2,000 American servicemen are involved in the disaster relief efforts. International rescue teams have arrived from around the world to extract survivors from the rubble, but local residents are outraged by the lack of government support following the disaster.

Most of the collapsed buildings in the hardest-hit city of La Guaira, located north of Caracas, were marked with the letter 'D', meaning 'dead' — a sign that a search was conducted there, but no signs of life were found.

There were also miracles: for example, rescuers found a three-year-old boy alive on Tuesday, six days after the earthquake. However, experts state that people trapped under rubble are unlikely to survive longer than 72 hours, which has long passed.

As daily life lies in ruins, the primary focus is now on survival. Many are left homeless, and food and water are becoming scarce.

"They're distributing food here, but sometimes people almost kill each other for it... It's like a cockfight," said 18-year-old Daniela Armas, a street vendor from La Guaira, after queuing for food at a temporary shelter.

"The situation is quite critical," said Lya Paglia, head of mission for the International Organization for Migration in Venezuela.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Saleh, who coordinates measures to protect and shelter people forced to leave their homes due to the earthquakes, stated on Tuesday that the humanitarian situation in affected areas is "rapidly deteriorating". According to the agency, there is a "severe shortage of food, a collapse of basic services, and increasing security risks for the displaced population".

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