Venezuelans lash out as quake rescue efforts lag amid rising toll

Boos greeted Delcy Rodríguez when she visited a shattered Caracas neighborhood. The twin earthquakes struck on Wednesday, June 24, and by the weekend the operation was still moving through the critical 72-hour golden window for finding survivors, even as residents and neighbors continued searching before official help arrived in force.

UN teams scrambled to support the international response on Thursday, warning that people were likely still trapped in Caracas and beyond as flattened buildings and damaged neighborhoods stretched emergency services thin. The hardest-hit areas included northern Venezuela, La Guaira and parts of the Caracas region.

By June 26, the Associated Press counted around 235 deaths and at least 4,300 injuries, numbers that were still expected to climb as more information came in. Thousands remained missing, and officials warned that the toll could rise further as rescuers reached collapsed buildings and neighborhoods cut off by the quakes.

Ordinary residents did much of the early rescue work themselves, borrowing tools and gathering supplies while waiting for state teams to arrive. Amnesty International pressed Venezuelan authorities to provide prompt, credible and regular disclosure of the damage, the dead and injured, the relief efforts being deployed, the routes for assistance and the contingency plan for finding the missing and rescuing survivors.