The Daily Journal.— At least 1,579 people remain missing following the June 24 earthquakes, a disaster that has claimed 6,125 lives, according to La Guaira Governor José Alejandro Terán, who spoke Tuesday with Colombia’s Caracol Radio.
The governor said the figures come from a census currently underway in the disaster zone.
“Based on the information that family members provide directly, we have identified 1,579 missing persons,” Terán said.
He explained that some of the people listed as missing may correspond to victims whose deaths the relevant institutions have not yet formally processed.
“Our forensic agencies at Senamecf have not yet certified them, so we cannot legally classify them as deceased,” Terán said.
Updated death toll
On Monday, National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez updated the official death toll after 10 days without issuing a new report. Official figures now place the number of fatalities at 6,125, an increase of 579 victims compared with the previous report.
The new official report, titled the “Weekly Information Bulletin” for the “Reconstruction Stage,” changed the format of previously released data. Authorities removed statistics on injuries and collapsed buildings while adding new indicators, including the delivery of 287 homes.
Rodríguez also reported that inspectors evaluated 41,624 homes. Of those, 9,866 received a “restricted” classification, while 6,433 fall into the “high-risk” category.
Authorities have not included the number of missing people in their official reports during this period. However, citizen-led initiatives such as “Desaparecidos Terremoto Venezuela” have documented more than 29,000 reports of people whose whereabouts remain unknown.
