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Six days under rubble
A Jordanian search-and-rescue team pulled a child alive from the rubble in Venezuela six days after the country was hit by twin earthquakes, with the rescue taking place in La Guaira state.
Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodríguez said the boy was pulled from the Los Corales Garden 1 building, and the Jordanian civil defence said he received first aid and was immediately taken to hospital.
The earthquakes measured 7.2 and 7.5 less than a minute apart on June 24, toppling buildings and trapping thousands of people beneath the rubble.
Venezuela’s National Assembly president Jorge Rodríguez said 6,461 people had been rescued since the quake struck, while the death toll had risen to 1,943 with more than 10,500 injured.
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said a shipment from UNICEF carrying 47 metric tons of humanitarian supplies arrived in Venezuela on Tuesday, local time.
Hope, anger, and aid
Delcy Rodríguez described the rescue as a moment of hope, and Jorge Rodríguez said, "We must hold on to the hope of continuing to find people alive beneath the rubble," in a televised address.
The BBC reported that the Jordanian civil defence said Klieber had been given first aid treatment, taken to a hospital and his vital signs were good, while the child was being treated in the capital Caracas, Venezuelan Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez said.
The UN refugee agency said on Tuesday that food shortages were widespread, basic services had broken down and communications had been largely severed in La Guaira, and the BBC quoted the UNHCR warning that "Community tensions are rising as access to assistance remains constrained."
Daniela Armas, an 18-year-old vendor in La Guaira who was injured falling from a motorbike when the quakes struck, told AFP that some supplies were being distributed but that "sometimes people nearly kill each other for food... it's like a cockfight."
The BBC also said the UNHCR needed an initial $15m to scale up protection, core relief items, and temporary shelter support for 30,000 earthquake-affected people over six months.
Health strain and what’s next
With the rescue coming well after the initial three-day period, experts cited by the BBC said the best chance of finding people alive under debris had passed, and the UN refugee agency said tens of thousands were urgently in need of food and shelter.
“Toggle Play Toddler pulled from debris six days after Venezuelan earthquakes A Jordanian rescue team used thermal imaging to rescue a toddler who had been trapped under rubble for six days in Caracas after back-to-back earthquakes struck Venezuela”
World Health Organization spokesman Christian Lindmeier said health services were under "extreme pressure," and he warned of "an increased risk now of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases" such as measles and diphtheria due to low vaccination coverage.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that the UN agency said it needed some $US14.85 million to scale up aid and temporary shelter for 30,000 people over six months, while also warning that "food shortages are widespread, basic services have broken down and connectivity has been largely severed" in La Guaira.
NASA’s preliminary satellite assessment cited by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation said the quakes likely damaged or destroyed 58,870 buildings, and the BBC said the massive tremors probably damaged or destroyed 58,870 buildings, according to an initial assessment of satellite data from NASA.
In the aftermath, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation said the WHO had evaluated 21 hospitals, three of which were no longer operating, and it reported that the government said the earthquakes damaged or otherwise compromised 38 hospitals nationwide.
