Rescue workers in Venezuela have continued operations for a fifth day after two powerful earthquakes killed more than 1,450 people, with teams from Venezuela and several other countries searching through the night for tens of thousands still believed to be trapped under rubble.
"If there are still survivors under the rubble, every second counts for them now," said Simone Walter, emergency relief coordinator at the aid organization Help, on Monday. "From our experience of previous earthquakes, we know that only around 10% of all missing people can still be rescued alive - time is running out."
Search operations have been hampered by numerous aftershocks. On Monday morning, a magnitude-4.6 earthquake struck off the Venezuelan coast, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).
Spectacular rescues give cause for hope
In some cases, people trapped under collapsed buildings had sustained no injuries, the leader of a Colombian rescue team told Venezuelan state television overnight, saying such situations offered hope.
It was clear, however, that every hour without water or food reduced the chances of survival.
A man was found alive even after 106 hours, Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, wrote on the social media platform X.
The official death toll from the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes has risen to at least 1,450, National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez said on Sunday. Around 3,200 people have been injured.
Thousands still missing
According to an unofficial platform, more than 46,000 people are currently listed as missing, after more than 80,000 missing person reports were filed. The figures cannot be independently verified.
People are also searching for the names of their relatives on lists of survivors held at emergency shelters, for example.
Assistance from Europe
Two German search and rescue teams are also operating in Venezuela - one from the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) and one from the aid organization @fire. Germany's Foreign Office in Berlin said there were still no indications of any German casualties.
The European Commission announced on Monday the establishment of a humanitarian airlift. A total of 50 metric tons of aid supplies were to be flown from Copenhagen to the affected areas at the start of the week, including materials for emergency shelters, water and sanitation facilities and educational supplies, the European Commission said.
In addition, €5 million ($5.7 million) would be made available for humanitarian aid in the worst-affected municipalities.
Children particularly affected
While search operations were continuing, large numbers of people were sheltering in emergency accommodation or in the open air. "We see families on the streets everywhere - families who have lost everything and cannot return to the rubble of their homes," Fatima Andraca, Save the Children's country director in Venezuela, said in a statement.
Power and water supplies, telecommunications and transport links remain severely disrupted in the disaster zone. Hospitals, already poorly equipped, are overwhelmed and schools in the affected areas are closed. Children in particular need long-term support to cope with the consequences of the disaster, the statement said.
Venezuela in crisis for years
Venezuela was already in a difficult situation before the earthquakes struck. The country has for years suffered from political tensions, economic problems and one of the world's largest migration crises.
In January, Washington carried out a military operation in the country in which authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro was captured. Acting president Rodríguez had served as vice president in the Maduro government.
