A British search-and-rescue team of 68 personnel left RAF Brixton on Friday, bound for Venezuela, as the death toll from Wednesday’s twin earthquakes surged to at least 920. The team, drawn from fire brigades across the country, travelled with six specialist search dogs and humanitarian staff.
“The UK stands in solidarity with all those affected, particularly those who have lost loved ones, homes and livelihoods,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said.
“UK sends 68-strong rescue team to Venezuela as twin earthquakes kill 920, with 50,000 missing.”
The quakes – a 7.2-magnitude tremor followed 39 seconds later by a 7.5-magnitude shock – struck northern Venezuela near the Caribbean coast, about 105 miles west of Caracas. The US Geological Survey said it was the strongest since 1900. At least 3,360 people have been injured, and around 50,000 remain missing, according to officials.
“We are going to rescue the people who are trapped. We are working tirelessly on this task,” interim President Delcy Rodríguez told reporters. National assembly head Jorge Rodríguez, her brother, said at least 172 people were still believed to be trapped. In the worst-hit state of La Guaira alone, 243 people had been rescued.
But for many families, official help has been slow to arrive. Dayana Delgado, searching for her missing eight-year-old son, said she had not seen the “heavy machinery” authorities had promised. “I want to know where my child is, if he’s trapped or in a shelter,” she said. “We are the ones digging through crumpled buildings.”
Yamileth Jiminez, from La Guaira city, said her 19-year-old son was trapped under the debris of their seven-storey block of flats. “He’s under the slabs and there’s no machinery to get him out,” she said.
Medical facilities are overwhelmed. “All our hospitals lack supplies, lack medicines, we are not able to provide medical attention to our people in a normal day,” said doctor Pedro Javier Fernandez. “Now with this tragedy, the emergency is …”
Among the dead is Andrea, wife of footballer Héctor Bello, who played for second-division side Marítimo de La Guaira. She used her body as a human shield to save their one-year-old daughter. “You left us alone in the fight, mummy,” Bello wrote on social media. “You left me all alone with our daughter.”
As rescue efforts entered a third day, a moment of silence for Venezuela’s victims before the Uruguay–Spain World Cup match was interrupted by shouting from fans. One spectator called it “disgusting”, while others said: “Show some respect.”
The death toll is expected to rise further. “We have faith and hope that they are there,” said Natacha Diaz, whose two daughters, aged 22 and 23, remain trapped under a collapsed shopping centre in La Guaira. “They are all I have.”