Americas

Americas

33 people rescued, thousands still missing after Venezuela quakes

28 June 2026 22:44 (UTC +04:00)

Thirty-three people have been rescued so far this weekend after Venezuela’s devastating twin earthquakes, the country’s interim president said, including several children, while tens of thousands remained unaccounted for with time for finding additional survivors running short, APA reports.

The death toll from the June 24 twin earthquakes rose above 1,400 as of June 27 as foreign rescue teams poured into coastal La Guaira, the hardest-hit state.

Families and volunteers spent days pulling survivors and bodies from the rubble before the arrival of the more than 1,600 foreign rescue workers, often complaining of scant heavy equipment and a limited official presence, as hundreds of aftershocks deepened damage and kept residents on edge.

The government - headed by interim President Delcy Rodriguez since her predecessor was removed by the US in a January raid - had thanked civilian volunteers ferrying aid to La Guaira, but then heavily tightened access to the road, saying traffic was preventing efficient movement of emergency vehicles and that only accredited people could use the roadway.

Although the government has given a figure of hundreds missing or trapped, just under 50,000 people were listed as unaccounted for on a website promoted by the country’s political opposition on June 28.