San Francisco Frontiers - Venezuela quakes kill 1,400, time running out to find survivors

Tens of thousands of people were reported missing as collapsed buildings dotted cities in a country already enduring an economic crisis and political upheaval after US forces captured former president Nicolas Maduro in January.

Millions of people were also feared to lack sanitation and other basic needs after one of Latin America's most devastating earthquakes.

International rescue teams from the United States, Mexico and elsewhere scrabbled to save people as desperate residents dug by hand for relatives trapped in the pancaked layers and rubble of collapsed apartments.

In one of the worst hit areas, the coastal city of La Guaira, Hector Aguilera came to search for four family members buried in the rubble since the back-to-back quakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 struck on Wednesday. Two other of his family members were rescued.

"We don't have the support to get our family out -- we can't do it alone. They are buried there: we know they are dead, but here we are," he said.

"We have no hope left, all I have are memories."

Experts say the first 72 hours after natural disasters -- which have now passed -- are the key, narrow window for finding the living. After that the search becomes one of recovering bodies.

In Caracas' San Berdardino neighborhood, volunteer rescuers clambered over one collapsed building, using drills to break up concrete and forming lines to remove rubble by hand.

In Chacao, another area of the capital, large electronic screens on a building usually used for advertising were showing the faces of missing people in a bid to help find them.

On Saturday, National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez reported 1,430 dead and 3,238 people injured -- a toll that was expected to rise.

- 'Source of hope' -

Interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez said late Saturday rescuers had pulled 33 people from the ruins.

International rescue teams with dogs scoured the rubble and US helicopters ferried in aid, but hope was running out for more people to be pulled out alive.

A Salvadoran rescue worker who declined to give his name put it this way: "At this point, they are probably dead bodies. Thanks to God maybe we can find people still alive."

An 11-year-old boy was rescued from the rubble in Caraballeda, north of Caracas, on Saturday, Rodriguez said.

"Every life is a source of hope for Venezuela," she said in a post on X, accompanied by a video of the rescue.

Facing public outrage at the response by local officials, Rodriguez thanked other countries for the outpouring of aid.

Twenty-four countries have sent 521 tonnes of supplies, 86 units with dogs trained to locate people trapped beneath the rubble and more than 2,700 search-and-rescue personnel, she said.

The US said Saturday that one runway at Simon Bolivar International Airport, which serves the capital, was partially functioning to receive US military planes, while a naval ship had arrived off the coast. The US has also sent a 250-strong disaster response team.

UN aid chief Tom Fletcher told AFP on Friday that the death toll could continue to soar, adding that more than 50,000 people were missing.

Foreign nationals confirmed dead include 28 Portuguese, nine Spaniards, seven Chinese, two Brazilians, one Chilean, one Italian-Venezuelan and one Uruguayan.

The search for survivors saw desperate attempts by local residents to claw away rubble from collapsed buildings.

"It's just very chaotic, hot and unorganized," said Australian firefighter Craig Demeillon, 43, who traveled alone to La Guaira from Miami to help. "Hopefully there's more people to find."

- Economic impact -

The UN migration agency said it had examined available population and damage data and had determined that "up to 6.76 million people could be affected," and would "require emergency shelter, safe water, sanitation and hygiene services, healthcare, protection support and essential relief items."

Venezuela's worst earthquakes in more than a century have come after the oil-rich country endured more than a decade of economic collapse.

The crisis has hollowed out hospitals and public services, driving millions to leave the country.

The United Nations estimated $6.7 billion in physical damage from Wednesday's earthquakes -- equivalent to six percent of Venezuela's GDP.

The government has restricted access to La Guaira state, deployed the military to the area and required volunteers to obtain a safe-entry pass.

Anger among those impatiently waiting to volunteer surged as they waited for passes outside a concert hall in the capital.

"You need a permit to save lives -- just imagine," complained Carlos Itriago, 27.

C.Diaz--SFF