The baby and mother were rescued more than 30 hours after the quake struck – Image: Andreina Quintero/AFP
The projection includes up to two million people in the capital, Caracas. Rescue teams are racing against time to save survivors, three days after the twin quakes in Venezuela that killed 1,430 people.
What you need to know
- Some 6.8 million people have been affected, the UN says
- More than 1,600 foreign rescuers are helping search for quake survivors
- At least 1,430 people have been killed and thousands more injured, according to top lawmaker Jorge Rodriguez
- More than 51,000 people are reported missing
- Two magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 quakes hit less than a minute apart
Aid agencies consider the first 48 to 72 hours as crucial for finding people alive – Image: Marcos Salgado/Xinhua/picture alliance
Venezuela quakes death toll rises dramatically
The death toll from the twin earthquakes in northwestern Venezuela has risen to 1,430, a top lawmaker said.
The figure is 55% increase from the previous 920 toll.
National Assembly President Jorge Rodriquez told state television that another 3,200 people were injured and 3,100 left homeless by the disaster.
Earthquake may have impacted nearly 7 million, says UN
Almost seven million people may have been impacted by the twin earthquakes in Venezuela, the United Nations estimated.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said “up to 6.76 million people could be affected,” adding that the calculation was based on available population and damage data.
The projections include up to two million people in Caracas alone.
The IOM said the estimate highlights “the potentially vast humanitarian impact of the disaster.”
The national death toll stands at 920, while thousands of people remain missing, many of them trapped under the rubble in the coastal city, La Guaira, and elsewhere.
The UN migration agency urged a bigger response from the international community, adding that the country’s needs were “immediate and significant.”
IOM called for emergency shelter, safe water and sanitation, as well as health care.
Venezuelans took the search for missing loved ones into their own hands, citing a scarcity of government rescuers – Image: Matias Delacroix/AP Photo/dpa/picture alliance
Newborn baby plucked from quake rubble
Rescuers have found a newborn baby in the rubble of a collapsed building, 32 hours after the twin earthquakes struck Venezuela.
Footage posted on social media shows rescuers bringing the infant out to applause late Friday in the hardest-hit city of La Guaira, north of the capital Caracas.
The video shows them passing the baby, wrapped in a quilt, from person to person before cleaning the child with tissues.
The person who took the video, Andreina Quintero, said the baby was just 18 days old and was uninjured.
The child’s mother was rescued an hour after the child and was later shown in a separate video in a hospital bed.
The UN says several international rescue teams have brought dogs to help find survivors in the rubble – Image: Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/REUTERS
Venezuela sees influx of international rescue teams
There has been an influx of international search and rescue teams, Venezuela’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Oliver Blanco, said.
“In the last few hours, Venezuela has received 17 flights carrying more than 1,600 members of rescue teams,” he wrote on social media.
Over the next few days, the arrival of 25 additional flights is expected.
Teams from countries such as Mexico, Spain, Colombia and the US are now working in the hardest-hit areas of Caracas and La Guaira.
Meanwhile, thousands of Venezuelan volunteers are joining the response, helping search for survivors and distribute supplies as the crisis unfolds.
DW.com/NAN 28-06-26
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