At least 920 people have been confirmed dead and tens of thousands remain missing in the aftermath of a powerful double earthquake in Venezuela.
The magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 quakes – the most powerful earthquakes to hit the country in more than a century – struck within 39 seconds of each other west of the capital Caracas.
Acting president Delcy Rodriguez said on Friday that at least 2,980 people had been injured, while nearly 50,000 remain missing.
Ms Rodriguez said that La Guaira, the coastal state that took the brunt of the devastation, would be put under military control in an effort to cope with the disaster.
The area is located approximately 20 miles (30km) away from Caracas, which was also hit by the quakes.
La Guaira’s airport, located in Maiquetia, has suffered severe infrastructural damage and was forced to close temporarily in the aftermath of the quakes.
National Assembly president Jorge Rodriguez said that more than 250 structures have been “damaged or lost”, adding that dozens of buildings had collapsed in La Guaira.
“We can say that the state of La Guaira is a true tragedy and has become a disaster zone,” he said.
Rescuers continued to search through the wreckage on Friday as satellite images showed the massive scale of the destruction wrought on the region.
The US military arrived to assist with aid efforts as international rescue teams joined the mission to rescue and support those affected.
The arrival of American troops came six months after Donald Trump’s capture of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro.
US Southern Command said that the aid had come at the request of Ms Rodriguez, and that General Francis L Donovan had “directed significant forces to the effort”, including an amphibious transport ship, a littoral combat ship, and transport aircraft, along with “reconnaissance platforms and rotary-wing aircraft”.
The forces will mobilise to “assess damage, locate the injured, and deliver critical, life-saving assistance”.
Countries from across the world, including Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, El Salvador, Cuba and the United States, have pledged to assist with the aid efforts.
The European Commission has helped with the provision of more than 520 responders from eight member states that have so far mobilised as part of the deployment.
“Italy is also sending a medical team, and Luxembourg is mobilising telecommunication, shelter and energy equipment,” read a statement on the commission’s website.
“We stand with the people of Venezuela at this time of great tragedy and catastrophe,” said the EU president, Ursula von der Leyen. “I thank all the member states for their solidarity and speed – sending firefighters, rescue dogs, medical staff and other forms of assistance. Venezuela is not alone.”
The United Kingdom is set to contribute £2m to the relief efforts.
Spain’s foreign minister Jose Manuel Albares said that at least two Spaniards had died and that 80 remain missing.
Betty Barandela, based in London, told The Independent of the terrifying moment she realised her mother was missing.
“She sent a voice message, crying, saying that she is in the street with her neighbours and that this is really horrible. She said we are all here together. And that was all. No more messages from her.”
It was 12 hours before Ms Barandela heard from her again.
“She finally texted us around lunchtime saying she is OK and went to sleep very late and struggled. She was very scared. She lives on her own and was still very shaky.
“She is one of the lucky ones – not only alive, but she still has a home and didn’t lose any loved ones. But she can’t stop thinking of the thousands and thousands of people who lost their families, kids, parents and homes.”
Cinzia Desantis, founder of London-based charity Healing Venezuela, told The Independent that she had a 75-year-old relative missing in Caracas, who was later found.
“Someone at one of the hospitals we work with was desperate, because he could not find three members of his family,” she said. “Our junior doctors are on duty, and the hospitals that we're working with are responding as well, and we are distributing potable water to the communities affected, and installing potable water plants in hospitals.”
Footage from the rescue missions continued to emerge on Friday, with one remarkable video showing a woman being rescued alive from the rubble, while another showed a baby being rescued.
Graciela Mora was conscious as she was pulled from beneath piles of concrete by emergency workers and volunteers, and spoke about her ordeal while she lay on a stretcher.
“When the earthquake started, I clung as tightly as I could to the door frame – so tightly that I broke my finger,” she said as she faced the sunlight for the first time in hours. “I held on tight, really tight, until all the floors collapsed.”
Reaching out with her left arm, Ms Mora appeared to speak about a friend or relative who had been in the building with her: “And then I saw her hand, like that, and grabbed it. So that she could go. It hasn’t given me a chance to cry, and it still hasn’t given me a chance to cry.”
Thousands have been left homeless in the wake of the disaster, in a country that was already impoverished by decades of economic and political turmoil.
The US Geological Survey said there was a 44 per cent probability that the number of fatalities could exceed 10,000.
“The earthquake is not only a humanitarian catastrophe; it is also a geopolitical stress test that will shape Venezuela’s political future and its relationship with the United States,” said Dr Annette Idler, associate professor at Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government.
“US support has been quickly announced, but what is at stake is whether Venezuela is perceived as being dependent on decisions taken in Washington, or whether Washington can support a locally owned process of both short-term recovery and long-term reconstruction.
“The question is whether Venezuela’s interim government will gain or lose legitimacy and confidence.”
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