The number of Spaniards killed by the double earthquake in Venezuela rises to 27, while 137 citizens disappeared in the earthquakes and 11 are still located under the rubble.
Sources from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation have offered this Thursday this new balance of victims of the earthquakes, which adds the location of a Spanish deceased to the figures provided on Wednesday.
Foreign Affairs insists that all consular emergency lines, which can be consulted on the social networks of the Ministry and the Embassy in Caracas, are open and Spaniards in Venezuela are asked to use them.
A plane with fifty volunteers from the Spanish cooperation left this Wednesday for Venezuela to install a field hospital that will be dedicated to supporting primary emergency care, psychological care and surgical procedures or childbirth.
A week of earthquakes with numerous personal and material damages
The earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 that shook the northern part of Venezuela have left extensive damage to homes, economic assets, businesses and other types of buildings, as well as human losses that are still being counted as the rescue and debris removal work progresses.
The president of the Venezuelan Parliament, Jorge Rodríguez, indicated that at least 2,295 people have died and 11,267 were injured. The official indicated that 6,461 people have been rescued by more than 4,000 brigade members. For its part, the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination team (Undac) said that the deployment of 3,000 international rescuers has saved twelve people alive who were trapped under the rubble.
Last Friday, UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) spokesperson Zoe Brennan said up to 6.76 million people could have been affected by the earthquakes.
There are 4,099 foreign brigade members, 153 dogs and 49 support vehicles, according to Caracas. The president in charge, Delcy Rodríguez, recently said that rescuers from El Salvador, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Switzerland, Ecuador, Spain, Chile, Colombia, the Netherlands, Italy and the United States arrived in Venezuela and that other countries are expected to join. In addition, numerous Venezuelans have joined the rescue efforts in the affected buildings and have organized collections of supplies and transfer of donations. According to official figures, there are 17,832 volunteers in disaster zones.
After the two large earthquakes on Wednesday, Venezuela has recorded more than 780 aftershocks. The Venezuelan Foundation for Seismological Research (Funvisis) reported almost twenty earthquakes this Wednesday, the highest of magnitude 3.6 occurring at 6:28 local time 50 kilometers off the coast of the state of Miranda (north, near Caracas).
global humanitarian aid
Venezuela has received 707,063 tons of humanitarian aid since a week ago, according to the president of Parliament, adding that there is a website enabled to receive international donations after the earthquakes that affected Caracas and six other states in the north of the country. Despite ideological differences, the Venezuelan Government has received support from countries such as Ecuador, Argentina and El Salvador.
Likewise, Donald Trump’s Administration maintained that there has been “no major problem” with the distribution of humanitarian aid after the earthquakes, and assured that Washington’s political plan for Caracas “remains intact”, as six months are about to pass since the capture of Nicolás Maduro by US troops.
The damage caused to homes and economic assets, such as vehicles, buildings or businesses after the two earthquakes has a preliminary estimate of 6.7 billion dollars, according to a satellite assessment based on the Rapid Digital Analysis (RAPIDA) of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
The Government has estimated today that 12,841 people have lost their homes, while the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has documented 16,000 citizens who have had to look for an alternative place to live.
Brazilian Defense Minister José Múcio visited Venezuela on Tuesday to expand humanitarian cooperation and evaluate possible initiatives related to the reconstruction of infrastructure and housing.
