The death toll from last week's twin earthquakes in Venezuela has climbed to at least 1,943, while around 43,000 people remain missing as hopes of finding more survivors continue to fade.
The magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes, which struck seconds apart, also injured more than 10,500 people, left about 16,000 homeless, damaged nearly 59,000 buildings, and left around 680,000 children in need of humanitarian assistance. More than 6,400 people have been rescued so far.
Rescue operations have slowed significantly after the critical 72-hour survival window passed. Teams are now focusing on recovering bodies as well as searching for any remaining survivors.
On Tuesday, rescue teams from Ecuador and the United States ended efforts to reach a mother and her three children trapped beneath a collapsed building in Macuto, La Guaira, after more than 40 hours without any response.
"In the end, we believe the days have already passed and that what we will find now is death," said Major Jorge Montanero, who led the Ecuadorian rescue team.
A rare sign of hope came in Caracas, where a Jordanian rescue team pulled a three-year-old boy alive from the rubble on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, aid agencies warned of worsening hunger, disease, and mounting pressure on Venezuela's healthcare system. The World Food Programme appealed for $50 million to provide emergency food assistance to up to 500,000 people over the next three months.
The World Health Organization said at least three health centers were critically damaged and six others were only partially operational. It also warned of an increased risk of measles, malaria, yellow fever, and dengue due to poor sanitation and low vaccination rates among displaced communities.
Source: AFP, AP, Reuters/ DW
Bd-pratidin English/ Jisan
