Rescue teams worked around the clock on Sunday to pull survivors from the rubble left by Venezuela’s twin earthquakes, as the death toll climbed to nearly 1,500 and thousands of families continued searching desperately for missing loved ones.
The powerful earthquakes, which struck on Wednesday, devastated large parts of La Guaira state, the hardest-hit region, flattening homes, businesses and public buildings in a country already grappling with years of political and economic turmoil.
Authorities said rescue operations would continue after several people were found alive beneath collapsed structures over the weekend.
“Rescue and recovery efforts are ongoing. Today we recovered people alive, so operations are not being suspended. We never lose hope,” interim President Delcy Rodriguez said after announcing the creation of a presidential commission to assess the structural safety of damaged buildings.
Rodriguez also said schools in the affected areas would remain closed for another week, while electricity had been restored to about 75 percent of La Guaira.
The government initially welcomed civilian volunteers delivering food and relief materials but later restricted access to the main highway into the disaster zone, saying heavy traffic was slowing emergency operations.
Earlier on Sunday, National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez announced that the death toll had risen to 1,450. He said 3,150 people had been injured, 12,721 displaced, and 774 buildings completely destroyed.
“We are in critical hours to continue rescuing lives and to establish camps for families who have lost their homes or cannot safely return,” he said.
Before international rescue teams arrived, families and volunteers spent days digging through collapsed buildings with limited equipment, often complaining about the lack of heavy machinery and insufficient official assistance. Hundreds of aftershocks have continued to shake the region, complicating rescue efforts and forcing many residents to sleep outdoors.
Government officials said at least 33 people had been rescued alive by Saturday evening, including several children.
On Sunday, rescuers pulled a father and his son alive from the wreckage of a collapsed building, offering another rare moment of hope in an increasingly difficult search.
While Venezuelan authorities have reported only hundreds of people as missing or trapped, an online registry promoted by opposition groups listed just under 50,000 people as unaccounted for on Sunday, down from approximately 55,000 the previous day.
Race Against the Clock
Rescue experts warn that the chances of finding survivors drop sharply after the first 72 hours following a major earthquake.
The U.S. Geological Survey has estimated that the twin magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes could ultimately claim more than 10,000 lives, potentially making them among Latin America’s deadliest disasters of the past century.
“There is roughly a 72-hour window where the chances of rescuing people alive remain realistic. After that, the probability declines rapidly,” said Sebastian Eugster, who leads the Swiss rescue mission.
Eugster said his 80-member team located several survivors using specially trained search dogs but was unable to reach them before they succumbed beneath the debris.
Saturday evening marked the 72-hour point since the earthquakes struck.
Children Pulled Alive from Rubble
Rescue crews continued to report remarkable survival stories.
The U.S. State Department shared footage showing American rescue workers pulling an infant alive from the rubble on Saturday.
A Colombian search team rescued 11-year-old Moises after locating him nearly three metres beneath collapsed concrete using specialised scanning equipment. He suffered a broken arm and was taken away on a stretcher with his eyes covered to protect him from the sudden daylight. His mother and sister died in the collapse.
Mexican rescue teams later saved another 11-year-old boy from a collapsed building in Caraballeda, according to government officials.
Speaking during his Angelus prayer in Rome, Pope Leo expressed solidarity with the Venezuelan people and thanked emergency workers risking their lives in the rescue effort.
International Aid Expands
A senior U.S. official said Washington is preparing an additional humanitarian assistance package worth hundreds of millions of dollars, on top of the $150 million already pledged by the Trump administration.
Meanwhile, opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado announced plans to return to Venezuela after spending months abroad. A White House official told Reuters some senior U.S. officials believed the timing was premature given the scale of the disaster.
The earthquakes also disrupted Venezuela’s energy sector. Workers said the country’s largest refinery, the 645,000-barrel-per-day Amuay facility, suspended operations on Sunday following a major power outage in Falcon state.
