1,500 dead so far… Hopes are dwindling in finding survivors of the Venezuelan earthquake

The chances of finding survivors are slim and residents’ patience is running thin on Monday in Venezuela, after the two powerful earthquakes that wreaked havoc on the country and left nearly 1,500 people dead, a toll that may still be much higher.

Photos taken by Agence France-Presse using drones showed entire neighborhoods in which not a single Nicolas Maduro in a lightning US military operation in January.

Aid of ambulance teams

After more than 72 hours have passed since the disaster, the chances of finding survivors have become very scarce, but the afflicted families are clinging to the last threads of hope to find their loved ones, while citizens’ discontent grows with the authorities that were negligent in their response to the double earthquake.

Eduardo Cardoso, who… A farmer came to help ambulance teams in a disaster area in Tokakas on the coast "Everyone says no one is alive, but we are here trying to get someone out"

For his part, the volunteer Luis Salas (27 years old) told "The most difficult thing is when we have hope while crawling under the rubble, but when we reach the victims we find them dead"

Search operations continue

And on Sunday, the head of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Jorge Rodriguez, announced that the death toll from the earthquake had risen to 1,450 people, noting that 774 buildings had been damaged, including 189 buildings that had completely collapsed due to… "The most horrific natural disaster our country has witnessed in its history"

Acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez, who announced the extension of school closures for an additional week, confirmed that "Search and rescue operations are continuing. We have found living survivors… and we still have hope"

In the San Bernardino neighborhood of Caracas, first responders climbed a building whose pillars had collapsed, using drills to break up the cement and forming human chains to manually lift the rubble.

In the Chacao neighborhood, giant billboards broadcast pictures of missing people, hoping to help find them.

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