The Daily Journal — Venezuela’s government announced Tuesday that nearly 20,000 people survived in the areas hardest hit by the June 24 earthquakes in La Guaira state. Officials described the rescue operation as “heroic” and said emergency teams pulled 6,461 people alive from the rubble.
During an official briefing, Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly, explained that the figures refer exclusively to La Guaira; this place had suffered the greatest destruction after the two earthquakes.
“We have conducted an analysis of the relentless, tireless, and heroic work carried out by Venezuelans and the international brigades during the rescue of both survivors and victims,” Rodríguez said.
Nearly 30,000 people were in the disaster zone
After conducting aerial surveys, drone inspections, census analyses, and interviews with survivors, relatives, and rescue workers, the government estimated that about 30,000 people were in the Caraballeda and Catia La Mar areas when the earthquakes struck.
Of that total, between 13,400 and 13,500 people left the disaster zone on their own or with assistance from relatives during the first hours after the double earthquake.
More than 6,400 people rescued
The government said search-and-rescue teams saved 6,461 people during the first six days of operations.
Rescuers achieved the largest number of successful operations during the first 48 hours.
On the first day, emergency crews rescued 2,407 people. On the second day, they rescued 2,973 more, after specialized teams from across the country joined the operation and the first international rescue brigades arrived.
Rescuers then saved 731 people on the third day, 345 on the fourth, and 4 on the fifth. During the early hours of Tuesday, rescue teams also found a two-year-old child alive beneath the rubble.
Rodríguez praised the work of Civil Protection, firefighters, police officers, the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, international rescue teams, family members, and volunteers who joined the search from the first hours of the emergency.
Nearly 20,000 survivors
Based on those figures, the government estimates that 19,861 people survived in the hardest-hit areas of La Guaira by combining those who escaped on their own with those rescued by emergency teams.
Rodríguez said authorities compiled these estimates using census data, hospital records, interviews with survivors and relatives, and field assessments conducted by emergency response officials.
