The death toll from Venezuela’s twin earthquakes has climbed to 920, the country’s deadliest in more than a century. The quakes left many buildings in ruins, while anger is growing over the slow pace of rescuing those trapped under debris.
UN aid chief Tom Fletcher told AFP more than 50,000 people were missing after the two tremors struck within a minute on Wednesday evening, flattening buildings across northern Venezuela, reports The Guardian.
Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, pledged to save “as many people as possible”. Her brother Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly, on Friday confirmed the official death toll.
Delcy Rodríguez earlier reported almost 3,000 injured. Touring La Guaira, the hardest‑hit region, she noted foreign search and rescue teams were beginning to arrive.
“We offer our solidarity to families of victims,” she said Thursday night outside the ruins of an eight‑storey seafront hotel destroyed by twin quakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5.
Volunteer searchers and relatives of the missing voiced anger and exasperation as they waited for official rescue teams.
