By Vivian Sequera and Mayela Armas
CARACAS, June 27 (Reuters) – Venezuela’s government said on Saturday 1,600 members of foreign rescue teams had arrived to help search for survivors of the devastating twin earthquakes which killed more than 900 people this week as it tightened access to the worst-affected state.
Residents and volunteers in La Guaira, a popular destination for beachgoers where at least 100 buildings, many of them residential high-rises, were destroyed or damaged, have for days decried shortages of heavy equipment and a limited official presence as they have worked to pull the living and the dead from the rubble.
Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez said in an overnight address on state television that 10 more countries were still to join rescue efforts and 14,000 military and police members were in La Guaira to patrol and take sanitary measures.
“In recent hours, Venezuela has received 17 flights carrying more than 1,600 members of rescue teams, and over the next 24 hours, the arrival of 25 additional flights is expected,” said foreign ministry official Oliver Blanco.
“We thank the international community for its support and solidarity during these moments of uncertainty for Venezuelans,” Blanco added on X on Saturday.
Rescuers have been making their way to sites around La Guaira state and Venezuela’s capital Caracas, although on Friday some areas were still largely without an official presence as families and neighbours struggled to find missing loved ones in the rubble, sometimes digging with their hands.
Officials closed the road between La Guaira and nearby Caracas on Friday evening, saying heavy traffic was preventing quick passage of emergency vehicles and official rescuers.
The government had promised accredited journalists would be able to reach the area, but only by government bus, because of the risk of disease. As of noon on Saturday, no buses had yet transported journalists.
Reporters from state media were allowed to enter and told state television rescues were proceeding.
Civilians who are not part of official rescue teams will need a credential to pass the roadblock and Reuters witnesses were prevented from using the main road on Saturday morning by police, while an older secondary road was choked with traffic.
The government had previously thanked civilians who brought aid, often by motorcycle, to desperate residents. Venezuelan state television showed images of thousands of pairs of shoes, clothing and other aid being collected by the government.
While the power remained out near the quakes’ epicenter in Moron on Friday, as well as fully down in La Guaira, it was being restored in other places, with Rodriguez saying that 60% of electricity had now been restored.
Venezuela’s power grid, crippled by years of underinvestment and economic sanctions, regularly experiences problems, leading to daily, hours-long blackouts in some regions.
54,000 MISSING
Although the government has said hundreds are missing or trapped, more than 54,000 people are listed as unaccounted for on a website promoted by the country’s opposition.
The U.S. Geological Survey estimated more than 10,000 deaths were possible from the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 quakes, which would place them among Latin America’s deadliest of the last century.
Nearly 7 million people could be affected, the U.N. said, estimating direct damage at about $6.7 billion.
The disaster could have political consequences for Rodriguez, who has tried to portray herself as an agent of change even though she served as vice president to Nicolas Maduro, who was ousted and arrested by the U.S. in January.
Rodriguez spoke by phone with President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday after meeting with the U.S. military’s Northern Command and disaster experts.
A senior U.S. administration official said on Saturday that a nine-figure funding package is expected to be announced within the next day or so, in addition to $150 million that has already been committed by the Trump administration.
The official added that nearly 250 civilian rescuers would go to Venezuela and that two 80-person teams with dogs and heavy rescue equipment were already there, and had found survivors in the past few hours. One runway is operational at Caracas’ international airport in La Guaira, the official said.
Argentina has sent three planes carrying rescue teams, according to its foreign office, and Aeropuertos Argentina, a private company that operates a majority of the country’s airports, will also help rehabilitate the airport.
Rescuers from Qatar have also arrived and Germany has sent two rescue teams made up of 70 people and seven dogs, its government said, and began work in La Guaira on Friday night.
Among the rescue teams working in La Guaira are a team from El Salvador, whose President Nayib Bukele has hailed multiple rescues on his X account, including of a 15-year-old girl.
Looting has taken place at several sites in La Guaira, Reuters witnesses said.
Venezuela’s oil production was not affected by the quakes, Oil Minister Paula Henao said on Friday, adding that fuel distribution would be guaranteed.
Oil executives and workers said the sector had avoided major infrastructure damage.
(Reporting by Vivian Sequera and Mayela Armas in Caracas, additional reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb in Bogota, Eliana Raszewski in Buenos Aires and Karen J. Brettell in Washington, writing by Julia Symmes Cobb, editing by Alexander Smith and Alistair Bell)
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