Spanish Ministry Says 27 Spaniards Killed in Venezuela Earthquakes, 11 Rescued

A double earthquake struck Venezuela’s central coast, and the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs updated the count to 27 Spaniards dead, with efforts underway to rescue 11 people located in the rubble and 137 missing.

“Publicidad A las 18:05 horas de la tarde, las 00:05 horas de esta pasada madrugada en España, se cumplió una semana del devastador doble terremoto en Venezuela”

Antena 3 Noticias

In a separate Spanish tally, José Manuel Albares raised the death toll of Spaniards in the earthquakes to 19, while the number of missing compatriots stood at 131 and 12 Spaniards had been located beneath the rubble.

Antena 3 Noticias

Venezuelan officials also reported a broader toll, with Jorge Rodríguez saying at least 1,719 people had died and more than 5,000 were injured as a result of the double earthquake of magnitudes 7.5 and 7.2 on the Richter scale.

Another balance cited by Antena 3 Noticias put the overall death toll at “al menos 2.295 muertos” and “11.267 heridos,” while also saying “hasta 12.000” people were calculated to be without a home.

As the search continued, Antena 3 Noticias said the deployment of 3.000 international rescue workers had saved 12 people trapped under the rubble after the double earthquake of magnitudes 7,2 and 7,5.

As the death toll rose, Martinique.franceantilles.fr said the UN warned that survivors desperate for food and shelter could soon face epidemics, and it described the previous toll as 1,719 before the new figure of 1,943.

Jorge Rodríguez, president of Venezuela’s National Assembly, said about 30,000 people were in the La Guaira port area, and he added that 6,461 people had been rescued while tens of thousands remained missing, with the UN putting the figure at 50,000.

Diari ARA

The World Food Programme launched on Tuesday an initial appeal of $50 million to feed about 500,000 people for three months, while UNHCR warned that in La Guaira state “food shortages are widespread” and communications were largely cut off.

In a Geneva briefing, WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said disruptions to health services and water and sanitation networks could fuel outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, diphtheria, and pertussis.

Antena 3 Noticias also quoted the WHO warning that the number of deaths could “aumentar considerablemente” as recovery work replaces search and rescue.

Spain’s Foreign Ministry said it would continue mobilizing emergency aid from the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), and José Manuel Albares confirmed that on Wednesday a plane would take off with the START team and the emergency field hospital.

“The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, the European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, has raised the death toll of Spaniards in the earthquakes that struck Venezuela last week to 19, and the number of missing compatriots stands at 131”

Diario Público

ElDiario.es said the latest official global tally of the earthquakes in Venezuela stood at 1,943 dead and 10,571 injured, and it reported that by Tuesday 6,461 people had already been rescued.

On the ground, rescuers from around the world pressed to find survivors among buildings “razed,” and ElDiario.es described a rescue attempt that included a three-year-old boy pulled from the rubble in Los Corales, in La Guaira.

In the La Guaira port area, an improvised morgue was set up as facilities were overwhelmed, and El Mundo described relatives waiting to identify loved ones while Abraham Rojas said, “We have seen their photos, their shoes and we know it. But one thing is clear: we are going to recover their bodies.”

As the search moved into recovery, Antena 3 Noticias said rescue teams would be returning to their countries and there would be a transition to start recovering the remains of the deceased, handled by Venezuelan authorities for equipment, legal, and forensic reasons.