Rescue Team Races Against Time to Find Survivors of Venezuela Earthquake
JAKARTA - Rescue teams are racing against time to find more survivors among the ruins of buildings after last week's devastating earthquake in Venezuela.
Rescue teams from Ecuador and the United States halted operations on Tuesday morning in Macuto, a city in La Guaira State - the area most severely affected by the June 24 earthquake - after more than 40 hours of work, when they stopped receiving a response from a mother and her three children trapped under a nine-story building.
"In the end, we believe the days are over and what we will find now is death," said Major Jorge Montanero, leader of the EQ11 team from Guayaquil, which is located on Ecuador's Pacific coast, launching Al Arabiya from Reuters (1/7).
"Unfortunately, things have not progressed well," he said, standing in the middle of the ruins after cutting through four concrete slabs of the building in an attempt to find the four trapped victims.
According to NASA experts' estimates, about 59,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed by two twin earthquakes - which occurred only a few seconds apart - with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5 on June 24. The widespread damage can be seen from space.
Not all of the collapsed buildings have been reached by professional rescue teams, with relatives and neighbors working to clear the rubble to rescue victims or bodies, according to victims and residents from various areas.
"There is no doubt that we are facing a higher number than has been reported. I can give an estimate: we are providing - and this has been agreed with the local authorities - 10,000 body bags," said Gianluca Rampolla, the UN's permanent coordinator in Venezuela, on Monday from his office in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.
Meanwhile, the government of President Delcy Rodriguez said at least 1,750 people had died and thousands more were injured as a result of the earthquake. About 16,000 people were left homeless.
Meanwhile, the website promoted by the country's political opposition says the number of people still missing is around 43,000.