By Vivian Sequera
LAGUAIRA/CARACAS, June 27 (Reuters) – The death toll from Venezuela’s devastating twin earthquakes rose above 1,400 on Saturday as foreign rescue teams poured into the country and authorities pressed on with the search for survivors in the hardest-hit coastal areas.
The updated toll came as rescuers fanned out across La Guaira and parts of Caracas, where families and volunteers have spent days pulling survivors and bodies from the rubble, often complaining of scant heavy equipment and a limited official presence.
Officials said more than 1,600 foreign rescuers had arrived and that additional teams were on the way, adding to a growing international response to the twin quakes that struck on Wednesday and unleashed hundreds of aftershocks.
In La Guaira, a coastal state popular with beachgoers, residents said the disaster response had been uneven, with some people digging through collapsed buildings by hand in search of missing relatives.
Top lawmaker Jorge Rodriguez told state television that the death toll had reached 1,430. He said thousands had been injured, families had been moved to shelters and aid was being distributed across disaster zones, especially in La Guaira.
He also said authorities were still monitoring frequent aftershocks, underscoring the force of the twin earthquakes and the difficulties facing rescue crews working in unstable conditions.
Authorities continued to restrict access to La Guaira and kept controls on the main road from Caracas, saying traffic was slowing emergency vehicles. Civilians not attached to official rescue teams needed credentials to pass checkpoints.
Power throughout the region was gradually being restored. Venezuela’s power grid, crippled by years of underinvestment and economic sanctions, regularly experiences problems, leading to daily, hours-long blackouts in some regions.
55,000 MISSING
Although the government has said hundreds are missing or trapped, more than 55,000 people are listed as unaccounted for on a website promoted by the country’s opposition.
The U.S. Geological Survey estimated more than 10,000 deaths were possible from the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 quakes, which would place them among Latin America’s deadliest of the last century.
The disaster could have political consequences for Rodriguez, who has tried to portray herself as an agent of change even though she served as vice president to Nicolas Maduro, who was ousted and arrested by the U.S. in January.
Pope Leo, speaking in Rome on Saturday, offered prayers for the victims, their families and those involved in relief operations, and said he hoped global solidarity with Venezuela would endure.
The U.S. has sent aid to Venezuela in the aftermath of the quakes. A senior U.S. administration official said on Saturday that a nine-figure funding package is expected to be announced within the next day or so, in addition to $150 million that has already been committed by the Trump administration.
A White House official also told Reuters that a renewed push by Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who left Venezuela late last year, for U.S. help to return home is frustrating senior officials in Washington, who said it was too soon after the disaster.
(Reporting by Vivian Sequera in La Guaira, additional reporting by Mayela Armas and Deisy Buitrago in Caracas, Julia Symmes Cobb in Bogota, Eliana Raszewski in Buenos Aires and Karen J. Brettell in Washington, writing by Julia Symmes Cobb, editing by Alexander Smith, Alistair Bell and Chizu Nomiyama )
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