Venezuela in ‘critical hours’ to find earthquake survivors as more search and rescue teams arrive – latest updates

Rescuers in 'critical hours' to find survivors as death toll reaches 1,450 The president of Venezuela’s National Assembly has warned time is running out to rescue survivors trapped under the rubble. The death toll from the earthquakes has risen to at least 1,450 people, with 3,150 injured and 12,721 others displaced, Jorge Rodríguez said yesterday in a televised address. “We are in critical hours, in crucial hours to continue rescuing lives and to build camps where those people who have lost their homes, or who cannot return, for whatever reason, to their residences can stay,” Rodríguez said. Search and rescue operations continue for survivors trapped under collapsed buildings in the coastal state of La Guaira on 28 June, 2026. Photograph: Cem Tekkesinoglu/Anadolu via Getty Images More search and rescue teams are arriving in Venezuela five days after the powerful 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude quakes struck within a minute of each other on Wednesday evening, flattening buildings in the north of the country. The second quake was one of the strongest tremors to hit Venezuela in a century. At least 68,900 people have been reported unaccounted for by their families. Experts say the first 72 hours after natural disasters define the narrow window for rescuing the living. After that the search usually becomes one of recovering bodies. …