Death toll from Venezuela earthquake nears 2,000

Bangla Press Desk:   Rescue efforts are still underway six days after two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela, with the death toll from the quakes rising to 1,943, the president of the country's National Assembly, Jorge Rodriguez, said. More than 10,500 people were injured.
He said that about 6,500 people had been rescued from the rubble in La Guaira. However, if you add those who managed to get out on their own or with the help of relatives, the number could be about 20,000. Thousands of people were struggling for food and shelter in different parts of the country on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, a 3-year-old child was pulled alive from under the rubble in the capital Caracas.
Last week, two earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 struck less than a minute apart. It is considered one of the most powerful earthquakes in Latin American history. It collapsed many residential buildings, left thousands missing and triggered a massive rescue operation.
Just when hope of rescue was almost gone, a Jordanian civil defense team pulled a 3-year-old child alive from the rubble of a collapsed house in Caracas. A video circulating online showed rescue workers expressing joy. The Jordanian Civil Defense said the child was in stable condition.
The crucial 72-hour deadline for finding survivors after the earthquake expired on Saturday, but rescue efforts are continuing in several areas.
The UN refugee agency said there was a severe food shortage in the worst-hit port city of La Guaira, north of the capital Caracas. Basic services have collapsed and communications have been severely disrupted.
“They are distributing aid here, but people are almost fighting over food,” said Daniela Armas, an 18-year-old vendor in La Guaira. Many Venezuelans have expressed anger at the government’s slow response, as infrastructure and a health system weakened by a long economic crisis.
The UN refugee agency has appealed for about $14.85 million to provide relief and temporary shelter for 30,000 people over the next six months.
Initial satellite analysis by the US space agency NASA showed that about 58,870 buildings may have been damaged or destroyed by the earthquake. Meanwhile, World Health Organization spokesman Christian Lindmeier warned that the country's health care system is under extreme pressure. Low vaccination rates before the earthquake have also increased the risk of outbreaks of preventable diseases such as measles and diphtheria.
After the devastating earthquake in Venezuela, rescue teams from the United States, Mexico and other countries are continuing to search for survivors with trained dogs and heavy equipment. At the same time, many Venezuelans are preparing to bury their relatives. Many people are still searching for missing relatives in the rubble, hospitals and morgues. The uncertainty and the pain of waiting have added to their suffering.
"The hardest thing is not knowing anything. Then I think again and again, what am I going to do?" said Rosana Luna, who is searching for her sister Soraida. Where will I look for her?’
AFP reporters saw black body bags lined up outside a makeshift morgue near the port of La Guaira on Monday, as people gathered to search for relatives or identify bodies. Darwin Silva, 37, said he had worked hard to retrieve his mother’s body, which was trapped under a collapsed building.
“The amount of work it took to extract her with my bare hands, with a hammer and an excavator is unimaginable,” he said. “At least now I can say goodbye to her in the peace she deserves,” he said, an emotional Darwin said after his mother’s body was found.
According to the United Nations, nearly 50,000 people are still missing six days after the earthquake. Rescuers are still searching through the rubble in the hope of finding survivors. The United Nations says about seven million people have been affected by Venezuela’s recent earthquake. The disaster has cost the country's economy an estimated $6.7 billion, equivalent to about 6 percent of Venezuela's gross domestic product (GDP).
Some 40 search and rescue teams from 27 countries have been sent to help with the rescue effort. The UN's Venezuela coordinator, Gianluca Rampolla, said the teams include more than 2,000 soldiers and rescue workers, as well as more than 160 trained rescue dogs.

The UN is providing 10,000 body bags as the death toll continues to rise. But the agency hopes the final death toll will be lower. Two crematoriums are operating at full capacity at the only public cemetery in the capital, Caracas. Meanwhile, many people are still waiting for the bodies of their loved ones in a makeshift morgue at the port of La Guaira.
Wilker Molalla was waiting there, looking for his relatives. "My family is there," he said. I was told that my sister and her children, as well as my brother's children, are there.''
''There were 11 members in our family. Only two of us survived because we were out of work at the time of the incident,'' he said through tears. The country is in a state of mourning, uncertainty and humanitarian crisis following the earthquake. Thousands of people are still missing and many families have no news of the fate of their loved ones.

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