Venezuela raises to 1,719 the dead from earthquakes and adds more than 5,000 injured

The victim toll from the earthquakes in Venezuela is once again soaring. Venezuelan authorities have raised this Monday to 1,719 the deceased and 5,034 the injured by the double earthquake that shook the country last Wednesday. The figure was communicated by the president of the Venezuelan Parliament, Jorge Rodríguez, on a day marked by a new aftershock and increasingly difficult rescue efforts.

The most affected area continues to be La Guaira, north of Caracas, where entire neighborhoods remain amidst collapsed buildings, uninhabitable hotels, damaged roads, and makeshift camps. This Monday, an aftershock of magnitude 4.6 was registered, with its epicenter near Caraballeda, forcing many residents to go out into the street again. Venezuelan authorities assure that no additional damages have been reported, although the country has already accumulated more than 430 aftershocks since the initial double earthquake.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintains the number of Spanish fatalities at 17. The number of missing Spanish citizens has dropped to 138, after new locations, and another 12 citizens have been located under the rubble. In Spain, some municipalities have already confirmed their own victims, such as Guillena, in Seville, where the City Council has decreed official mourning for the death of a 34-year-old resident who was traveling with her family.

Aid arrives, but needs grow

Rescue teams continue to work within an increasingly narrow time window, although live rescues have still occurred after more than a hundred hours under the rubble. The image of hope for the day has been that of people located in gaps formed by furniture or structures, while firefighters and international brigades try to advance through unstable areas and high temperatures.

Doctors Without Borders has warned that the emergency is now entering another phase. The organization has supported several hospitals with material to treat about 3,500 patients, but warns that needs "will increase". There are thousands of people without shelter, settled in parks, stadiums, and camps without structured health care, with urgent needs for water, food, shelter, and psychological support.

The European Union has announced five million euros in humanitarian aid and is preparing an airlift with some 50 tons of shelter material, water, and sanitation. Mexico is also preparing a new shipment of aid after a formal request from the Venezuelan Government, with water treatment plants, generators, and non-perishable food. Mexican President, Claudia Sheinbaum, has also confirmed that her brigades have already participated in rescues on the ground.

The extent of material damage is also beginning to be measured from the air. A first experimental assessment by NASA, based on satellite images, estimates that some 58,870 buildings could have been damaged or destroyed in the affected region. The agency insists that this is a preliminary analysis pending validation, but the data gives an idea of the size of the emergency facing Venezuela five days after the earthquake.