Daily TribuneExperts say the first 72 hours after natural disasters are the key, narrow window for finding the living.
A NEWBORN baby is pulled out alive from the rubble of the city of La Guaira, Venezuela, after twin earthquakes hit the country.
PHOTOGRAPH courtesy of ANDREINA QUINTERO/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
LA GUAIRA, Venezuela (AFP) — Rescue crews raced Sunday to find survivors in the rubble of Venezuela's powerful earthquakes as the death toll reached 1,430 and hopes dwindled more than three days after the earth roared and rumbled.
Tens of thousands of people were reported missing as collapsed buildings dotted cities in a country already enduring an economic crisis and political upheaval after United States forces captured former president Nicolas Maduro in January.
Millions of people were also feared to lack sanitation and other basic needs.
Experts say the first 72 hours after natural disasters are the key, narrow window for finding the living. After that the search becomes one of recovering bodies.
A Salvadoran rescue worker who declined to give his name put it this way: "At this point, they are probably dead bodies. Thanks to God maybe we can find people still alive."
An 11-year-old boy was rescued from the rubble in Caraballeda, north of Caracas, on Saturday, three days after the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 tremors, interim leader Delcy Rodriguez said.
"Every life is a source of hope for Venezuela," she said in a post on X, accompanied by a video of the rescue.
Facing public outrage at the response by local officials, Rodriguez thanked other countries for the outpouring of aid.
Twenty-four countries have sent 521 tons of supplies, 86 units with dogs trained to locate people trapped beneath the rubble and more than 2,700 search-and-rescue personnel, she said.
United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher told Agence France-Presse on Friday that the death toll could continue to soar, adding that more than 50,000 people were missing.
The search for survivors saw desperate attempts by local residents to claw away rubble from buildings that collapsed in Wednesday's two quakes.
"It's just very chaotic, hot and unorganized," said Australian firefighter Craig Demeillon, 43, who traveled alone to La Guaira from Miami to help. "Hopefully there's more people to find."
Newborn rescued
There was joy in the hardest-hit coastal area of La Guaira, north of Caracas, when locals pulled an infant alive out of the wreckage on Friday.
In one social media video, a man welled up in tears as he held the baby in his arms.
The UN migration agency said it had examined available population and damage data and had determined that "up to 6.76 million people could be affected," and would "require emergency shelter, safe water, sanitation and hygiene services, healthcare, protection support and essential relief items."
National Assembly president Jorge Rodriguez reported on Saturday 1,430 dead and 3,238 people injured, while the United Nations estimated $6.7 billion in physical damage — equivalent to six percent of Venezuela's gross domestic product.
Foreign nationals confirmed dead include 28 Portuguese, nine Spaniards, seven Chinese, two Brazilians, one Chilean, one Italian-Venezuelan and one Uruguayan.
