Experts assume that the chances of missing and buried people decrease significantly after 72 hours – i.e. three days.Image: keystone
June 29, 2026, 01:17June 29, 2026, 01:17
In Venezuela, rescue workers with sniffer dogs are searching nonstop for survivors on day four of the earthquake disaster. Pope Leo XIV expressed his condolences for those affected. Officially, the death toll so far is 1,450, as the President of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, announced. Around 3,200 people were injured. Tens of thousands are missing.
A sixty-year-old woman was rescued alive from the rubble after 86 hours of work on Sunday by an international search team in Caraballeda, La Guaira state, as the President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, announced on the X platform.
A team from the Technical Relief Agency (THW/Bonn) has also started work on site, as the THW announced on Sunday. Some THW workers are currently working at an operation site where a survivor is suspected, it was said. At the same time, the search for buried victims continues. The 48-strong team arrived at Caracas airport on Saturday night.
Two severe earthquakes shook the north and center of Venezuela early on Wednesday evening local time (just after midnight according to German time). The first quake, with a magnitude of 7.2, was followed 39 seconds later by the second, with a magnitude of 7.5. There was particularly serious damage in La Guaira, where the international airport and the most important seaport of the South American country are located.
Eleven-year-old rescued, football player’s family found dead
Several people were rescued alive in La Guaira, including an eleven-year-old. For others affected, however, the worst fears have been confirmed. Argentine soccer player Lucas Trejo, for example, lost his wife and two children – five and seven years old – in the earthquakes, as his club confirmed.
The 38-year-old player from the second division team Sport Marítimo La Guaira had been feverishly searching for his family under the rubble of his completely collapsed residential building in Playa Grande since Wednesday. His wife and children were found dead on Saturday. Trejo previously played, among others, for the Greek club Atromitos FC (2007-2011) and in the Venezuelan first division.
“Praying to God for the eternal rest of the deceased”
Pope Leo XIV has joined in the international condolence for those affected. “Praying to God for the eternal repose of the deceased, I renew my spiritual solidarity with their families, the injured and all those devastated by this tragedy,” said a post on the pontiff’s Spanish and English-language X channels. The head of the Catholic Church also expressed his gratitude to those who took part in the rescue operations and assistance in the South American country.
Heroic rescues
Impressive videos show how helpers squeeze through narrow gaps between the rubble and, after difficult work, rescue people from them – adults, children, even babies just a few weeks old. A Colombian team managed to rescue eleven-year-old Moisés Calzadilla alive after a six-hour operation, as a video from the Colombian disaster agency UNGRD shows. Teams from countries such as El Salvador, Ecuador and Spain also reported successful rescues.
Chances for survivors are decreasing rapidly
Meanwhile, the critical time window for finding survivors is gradually closing. Experts assume that the chances of missing and buried people decrease significantly after 72 hours – i.e. three days.
Since then, almost 79,000 reports have been received on an internet portal set up specifically to search for missing people. According to the operators, almost 50,000 people are still missing. However, the information cannot be independently verified. Many relatives have not heard from each other since the disaster and are increasingly desperately waiting for news about the whereabouts of family members. Electricity and mobile phone networks have still not been restored everywhere.
According to Rodríguez, not only President of the Venezuelan National Assembly but also brother of the acting head of government Delcy Rodríguez, 30,000 Venezuelan emergency services are deployed in the disaster area. This also includes doctors and psychologists. According to government information, more than 2,700 rescue experts from 24 countries are taking part in the search for buried victims.
After the severe double earthquakes on Wednesday, there were 430 aftershocks, said Rodríguez. More than 70,000 families were supported by the authorities after the disaster.
Video: watson/hanna dedial
Severely damaged infrastructure, uninhabitable houses
Transport Minister Jacqueline Faría announced the partial resumption of train and subway services starting Sunday, including the Caracas metro.
According to the latest damage assessment on Sunday, around 780 residential buildings and 38 hospitals were destroyed or seriously damaged. Shopping centers and other public buildings also collapsed – a total of around 2,500 residential buildings and other facilities. The medical facilities that are in operation are being extremely overrun, local journalists reported.
Many residents in the affected regions do not have a permanent roof over their heads. Delcy Rodríguez explained on Platform
Journalists reporting from the streets in particularly hard-hit areas contradict the narrative that the government is taking care of everyone: many families stayed on the streets with their small children for fear that further aftershocks could cause houses to collapse. (sda/dpa)
More about the earthquakes in Venezuela: