Hope of finding more survivors has faded as Venezuela marked a week since twin earthquakes killed almost 2,300 people, while many who lived through the disaster were running desperately short on food.
Venezuela’s National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez said on Wednesday that deaths had risen to 2,295, and more than 11,000 people were injured.
He said almost 13,000 people had been left homeless. The United Nations estimates 50,000 people are missing.
As the death toll mounted, Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez declared seven days of mourning, saying the country’s “soul is torn apart by the human losses.”
Tens of thousands of people remain unaccounted for.
The majority of collapsed buildings in the hardest-hit city of La Guaira, just north of Caracas, have been marked with the letter ‘D’ for ‘deceased’ – a sign they had been searched and showed no signs of life.
There have been miracle survivors, such as a three-year-old boy found alive Tuesday, six days after Venezuela’s most powerful quake in over a century. But experts say trapped victims are unlikely to survive more than 72 hours after an earthquake.
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‘The situation is quite critical’
International rescue teams arrived from around the globe to dig out survivors, while locals are furious at the absence of the state in the aftermath of the disaster.
With daily life in ruins, the focus is now shifting to survival. Many are homeless and food and water are becoming hard to find.
