The latest figures emerged as rescuers spread across La Guaira and parts of Caracas, where families and volunteers have dedicated days to retrieving survivors and bodies from the debris, often expressing concerns about the lack of heavy equipment and minimal official involvement.
Officials reported that over 1,600 foreign rescuers had arrived, with more teams on the way, contributing to the escalating international response to the quakes that struck on Wednesday, followed by numerous aftershocks.
In Caraballeda, one of the hardest-hit areas of La Guaira, U.S. helicopters were seen transporting rescue teams to a dusty landing zone, according to witnesses from Reuters, delivering crews before departing again.
Among the volunteers was Alejandro Serrano, a 33-year-old industrial engineer who had come from San Cristobal in western Venezuela in search of his 24-year-old sister, Ana Serrano, who lived in the Bahía Mar building in Caraballeda, which was leveled in the quakes.
Serrano recounted that he searched Thursday night at Caracas’ Perez Carreno Hospital without success. He provided his sister’s information and address to rescue teams from Argentina and El Salvador.
”I hope they don’t find her” in the rubble, he expressed, indicating his hope that she was still alive. ”But I need to find her.”
SLEEPING IN THE STREET
Residents noted that the response in some regions was inconsistent, although heavy machinery was operational in sections of Caraballeda and Los Corales by Saturday.
In the small Los Corales area named Valle del Pino, Beisy Rivas, 60, reported that five or six homes in her neighborhood remained standing but were damaged.
”Since the night of the earthquakes, nearly all the neighbors have been sleeping in the street due to the aftershocks,” she remarked. ”My nerves are frayed, thinking about the deceased and those who have lost loved ones.”
Nearby, Yendri Santana shared that some houses in her 30-home community had wall cracks, although fortunately, no one had perished. Sitting on a curb with Rivas after receiving food donations from a truck, Santana mentioned that her sister had lost her small home but survived.
”It pains me to see people struggling so much just to lose everything,” she lamented.
Authorities continued to impose restrictions on access to La Guaira and maintained controls on the main road from Caracas, citing that traffic was hindering emergency vehicles. Civilians not associated with official rescue teams were required to have credentials to pass through checkpoints.
Power gradually returned to the region. Venezuela’s power grid, long weakened by years of underinvestment and economic sanctions, frequently faces failures, resulting in daily, prolonged blackouts in certain areas.
55,000 MISSING
While the government has reported that hundreds are missing or trapped, over 55,000 individuals are listed as unaccounted for on a website promoted by the country’s opposition.
The U.S. Geological Survey estimated that the death toll could exceed 10,000 from the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes, potentially ranking them among the deadliest in Latin America in the past century.
This disaster could have political ramifications for interim President Delcy Rodriguez, who has positioned herself as a reformer despite having served as vice president under Nicolas Maduro, who was ousted and arrested by the U.S. in January.
Pope Leo offered prayers for the victims, their families, and those involved in relief efforts, expressing a desire for global solidarity with Venezuela to persist.
The U.S. has extended aid to Venezuela following the earthquakes, with a senior U.S. administration official stating on Saturday that a funding package worth hundreds of millions of dollars is anticipated to be announced soon, in addition to $150 million already pledged by the Trump administration.
A White House official further informed Reuters that a renewed plea from Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who departed Venezuela late last year, for U.S. assistance to return home is causing frustration among senior officials in Washington, who believe it is premature to act after the disaster.
