CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela’s devastating twin earthquakes have claimed at least 1,430 lives as rescue workers race against time to find survivors more than three days after the country’s deadliest seismic disaster in over a century.
Authorities said thousands of rescue personnel continued searching through collapsed buildings on Saturday, even as hopes of finding more survivors faded beyond the critical 72-hour rescue window that disaster experts say offers the best chance of locating people alive.
The powerful magnitude 7.2 foreshock and 7.5 main earthquake struck on Wednesday, flattening buildings and causing widespread destruction across the country.
According to National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez, at least 1,430 people have been killed and 3,238 others injured. More than 50,000 people remain unaccounted for, according to United Nations estimates, raising fears that the death toll could rise significantly.
Interim President Delcy Rodriguez announced that an 11-year-old boy had been rescued alive from the rubble in Caraballeda, offering a rare moment of hope amid the tragedy.
“Every life is a source of hope for Venezuela,” Rodriguez said in a post on X, sharing footage of the rescue.
Earlier, residents in the hard-hit coastal state of La Guaira also pulled a newborn baby alive from the debris, approximately 32 hours after the earthquakes struck.
Despite the successful rescues, emergency workers acknowledged that operations were increasingly shifting from rescue to recovery.
“At this point, they are probably dead bodies. Thanks to God, maybe we can find people still alive,” one Salvadoran rescue worker said.
The United Nations migration agency estimates that up to 6.76 million people could be affected by the disaster and are in urgent need of emergency shelter, clean water, sanitation, healthcare, and humanitarian assistance.
The UN has also estimated the physical damage at approximately US$6.7 billion, equivalent to about six percent of Venezuela’s gross domestic product.
International assistance has continued to arrive as the humanitarian crisis deepens.
The United States said one runway at Simon Bolivar International Airport had resumed limited operations to receive military cargo aircraft carrying rescue personnel and emergency supplies. More than 250 American disaster response personnel, including specialised urban search-and-rescue teams with sniffer dogs, have been deployed.
Authorities said 21 countries have dispatched rescue teams and humanitarian assistance to support operations.
However, frustration has mounted among residents and volunteers, many of whom accuse authorities of slowing rescue efforts through access restrictions.
The government has deployed military personnel to La Guaira and requires volunteers to obtain official permits before entering disaster zones.
“We were the ones who pulled them out ourselves. No help ever came,” said Yessica Mendoza, whose daughter and son-in-law died when their home collapsed.
Another volunteer, Carlos Itriago, criticised the permit system.
“You need a permit to save lives—just imagine,” he said while waiting to access the affected area.
The earthquakes have compounded Venezuela’s long-running economic and political challenges. Years of economic decline have weakened hospitals, infrastructure, and emergency response capacity, while millions have already left the country during the prolonged crisis.
Authorities said the victims include foreign nationals from Portugal, Spain, Brazil, China, Chile, Italy, and Uruguay, underscoring the international impact of one of Latin America’s deadliest natural disasters in recent years.
Rescue operations remain ongoing as emergency agencies continue searching collapsed buildings, although officials acknowledge that the chances of finding additional survivors diminish with each passing hour.