Venezuelans searched for survivors beneath collapsed buildings on Thursday and rescue teams raced to northern areas rocked by a pair of powerful earthquakes that officials say killed around 235 people and left at least 4,300 people injured.
“Unfortunately we have received around 235 patients who arrived without vital signs or died when they arrived at our health facilities," Health Minister Carlos Alvarado told state media on Thursday.
The number of dead and injured is expected to rise with thousands reported missing after the 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes that struck on Wednesday evening, which was among the strongest in Venezuela in more than a century and was felt throughout the region.
Thousands were reported missing and buildings were evacuated as far away as Brazil’s Amazon.
In response to the devastation, the US Treasury on Thursday moved to waive some sanctions until October 23 to allow transactions related to earthquake relief efforts in Venezuela that would otherwise be prohibited.
Meanwhile, in cities across northern Venezuela, panicked residents poured into the streets and searched for the missing in the debris.
The injured were pulled out of the rubble covered in dust and blood, among them children and animals. Venezuelan state TV showed dramatic images of rescues, including a woman who was trapped under a cement slab, only a barefoot poking out before crews managed to get her out alive. But few government search teams were seen outside Caracas.
Dayana Delgado, mother of three children, asked where the heavy machinery was that government officials had promised, pointing out that neighbours were the ones digging through the rubble.
“I want to know where my child is, if he’s trapped or in a shelter," she said of her eight-year-old son who was missing.
One mother sobbed and collapsed in grief as the bodies of her three- and ten-year-old children were wrapped in blankets and carried away. Others screamed the names of missing loved ones. Some stood in silent shock.
The coastal region of La Guaira — north of the capital, Caracas — suffered some of the heaviest damage and casualties. The country’s main airport is there and was closed due to damage, complicating aid efforts.
Retired schoolteacher Juan Alberto Mendano climbed through wreckage in La Guaira and past a dead body when he spotted a woman who was trapped and signalling with her hand for help.
“May God rescue her as quickly as possible," said Mendano. “When we heard the scream, there was nothing we could do."
Offers to send aid and supplies poured in from around the world, including from the United States, which seized Venezuela’s then-president Nicolas Maduro at the beginning of the year in a surprise military operation.
The natural disaster is just the latest challenge for acting President Delcy Rodriguez, the former vice president who took office in January after Maduro’s capture. Venezuela has been facing economic disarray for more than a decade, and many people reject the legitimacy of the political movement Rodriguez represents.
