Terror in Venezuela as Earthquake death toll climbs to 1,430, over 3,200 wounded

At least 1,430 people have died in the two major earthquakes that struck Venezuela according to the President of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez.

According to CNN, Rodríguez further revealed that 3,238 people have sustained injuries, and 3,142 families have been rendered homeless due to the earthquakes.

Rodríguez explained that there were at least 430 aftershocks following the two earthquakes in the nation.

Two earthquakes measuring 7.2 magnitude and 7.5 magnitude occurred in the South American nation on Wednesday, leaving a trail of destruction in the coastal region of La Guaira.

Without any government rescue teams available, Venezuelans have become desperate in the affected areas as they dig through debris using their bare hands.

CNN further reports that a senior official in the administration of President Donald Trump said there are “great communications right now with the interim authorities” in Venezuela on both the political and military side in the wake of the devastating earthquakes.

We have a unique relationship, obviously, with the interim authorities, and we’re working very closely with them to address the needs, to get the logistics up and running,” the official told reporters on Saturday morning.

The official said as of Saturday morning, one of the runways at Simón Bolívar International Airport near Caracas was operational, allowing an increase in assistance, and credited this to US coordination with the interim Venezuelan government. The other runway remains “completely cracked and inoperable,” they noted.

“Mobile hospitals are arriving today, the US is working to get more Starlink terminals to Venezuela, and a further surge of humanitarian supplies is planned, the official said. Two 80-person US search and rescue teams have helped find survivors in the rubble,” they added.

Asked about reports of restricted access to some of the hardest hit areas, the official suggested it was a communication issue that “a big coordination problem has obviously been the airfields.”

“You’ve got a lot of different groups from all around the world trying to land at the same airfield, you know, trying to get a picture of what air assets are open, trying to get limited ground logistics to get over there, so that’s something that you deal with in every single one of these situations,” they said.

The official also said the USS Fort Lauderdale “is now in position, and so we’re able to airlift people to use the medical facilities as necessary on that vessel, and to use it to do command and control on logistics, and to use their airlift.”