CARACAS — The death toll from Venezuela’s twin earthquakes has risen to 3,535, authorities said on Monday, while nearly 18,000 people remain homeless more than a week after the disaster struck the capital and nearby coastal areas.Top lawmaker Jorge Rodriguez said on Monday that the latest official tally showed 16,740 people injured and 17,854 left without housing after the June 24 quakes, which measured magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5 and struck within seconds of each other.At least 12,800 people were staying in 80 shelters across Caracas and La Guaira, the coastal regions most directly impacted by the earthquake.An estimated 60,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed.The new figures underscore the scale of the disaster in and around Caracas and La Guaira, the coastal area hit hardest, as criticism mounts over the government’s response.Experts have also warned of a widening health crisis as thousands of displaced Venezuelans sleep in crowded temporary shelters or outside without access to clean water. Thousands have untreated injuries and infectious diseases, with the country’s healthcare system struggling to cope.Dr. Mauricio Cerpa Calderon, an adviser to the Emergency Operations Center of the Pan American Health Organization in Washington, warned of the health risks mounting in these temporary sites.”An event associated with or following an earthquake is the setting up of temporary shelters or camps,” Cerpa told Reuters. “These health risks are related to overcrowding, limited ventilation, interrupted access to safe drinking water, water and sanitation issues, and inadequate handling of food and waste.”Cerpa said immediate priorities include addressing “respiratory infections, diarrhea, skin diseases, wound infections, dengue, and vaccine-preventable diseases such as tetanus, measles, rubella, diphtheria, pertussis and polio.”Acting President Delcy Rodriguez has defended the government’s handling of the disaster amid growing frustration from Venezuelans who have described the response as late and inadequate. Global humanitarian organizations including the International Rescue Committee have also criticized the government’s response.Rodriguez said security forces were deployed immediately after the quakes and announced the creation of a new military unit to help tackle future emergencies and disasters.In La Guaira on Monday, witnesses told the Reuters news agency that they saw trucks and forensic workers transporting coffins while machinery dug trenches in an open area marked by white crosses, where authorities were burying bodies.Photos published by Spanish newspaper El Pais showed some graves marked with names and others with numbers.To assist with the influx of casualties, Cerpa said PAHO and the World Health Organization have supported the management of bodies by providing technical guidelines and body bags, as well as facilitating three refrigerated containers for body management at the port of La Guaira and two crematoriums in other locations.The United Nations said it was continuing to ramp up aid operations in coordination with the government in Caracas.”Some search and rescue teams remain deployed in the affected areas, while other specialized engineering teams and medical support continue to arrive,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Monday.National health authorities are currently evaluating targeted vaccination campaigns in the temporary shelters based on risk, vaccine availability and national guidelines, Cerpa added.“The issue we foresee just around the corner is the infections that patients who have been exposed to the disaster for the longest time might bring,” Eugenio Cova, the head of the trauma unit at Hospital Jose Gregorio Hernandez in Caracas, said last week.“We’ve already gone through a period of complex trauma, which will continue to occur, but now, it’s complicated by infections,” Cova said.Frustration about the government’s rescue and recovery efforts has led to everyday citizens taking charge to find survivors and distribute aid.Carolina Jimenez, the president of the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), a research and advocacy group, told Al Jazeera that the result has been growing anger toward the state.“In a government in any other country, the first responder should be the state,” she said last week. “In the case of Venezuela, the state has been the last responder.”In places like Catia la Mar, north of Caracas, authorities still haven’t arrived or are lacking.“[The] response has come from citizens, from civil society, from humanitarian workers, from volunteers – but not from the government,” Jimenez said.CARACAS — The death toll from Venezuela’s twin earthquakes has risen to 3,535, authorities said on Monday, while nearly 18,000 people remain homeless more than a week after the disaster struck the capital and nearby coastal areas.Top lawmaker Jorge Rodriguez said on Monday that the latest official tally showed 16,740 people injured and 17,854 left without housing after the June 24 quakes, which measured magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5 and struck within seconds of each other.At least 12,800 people were staying in 80 shelters across Caracas and La Guaira, the coastal regions most directly impacted by the earthquake.An estimated 60,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed.The new figures underscore the scale of the disaster in and around Caracas and La Guaira, the coastal area hit hardest, as criticism mounts over the government’s response.Experts have also warned of a widening health crisis as thousands of displaced Venezuelans sleep in crowded temporary shelters or outside without access to clean water. Thousands have untreated injuries and infectious diseases, with the country’s healthcare system struggling to cope.Dr. Mauricio Cerpa Calderon, an adviser to the Emergency Operations Center of the Pan American Health Organization in Washington, warned of the health risks mounting in these temporary sites.”An event associated with or following an earthquake is the setting up of temporary shelters or camps,” Cerpa told Reuters. “These health risks are related to overcrowding, limited ventilation, interrupted access to safe drinking water, water and sanitation issues, and inadequate handling of food and waste.”Cerpa said immediate priorities include addressing “respiratory infections, diarrhea, skin diseases, wound infections, dengue, and vaccine-preventable diseases such as tetanus, measles, rubella, diphtheria, pertussis and polio.”Acting President Delcy Rodriguez has defended the government’s handling of the disaster amid growing frustration from Venezuelans who have described the response as late and inadequate. Global humanitarian organizations including the International Rescue Committee have also criticized the government’s response.Rodriguez said security forces were deployed immediately after the quakes and announced the creation of a new military unit to help tackle future emergencies and disasters.In La Guaira on Monday, witnesses told the Reuters news agency that they saw trucks and forensic workers transporting coffins while machinery dug trenches in an open area marked by white crosses, where authorities were burying bodies.Photos published by Spanish newspaper El Pais showed some graves marked with names and others with numbers.To assist with the influx of casualties, Cerpa said PAHO and the World Health Organization have supported the management of bodies by providing technical guidelines and body bags, as well as facilitating three refrigerated containers for body management at the port of La Guaira and two crematoriums in other locations.The United Nations said it was continuing to ramp up aid operations in coordination with the government in Caracas.”Some search and rescue teams remain deployed in the affected areas, while other specialized engineering teams and medical support continue to arrive,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Monday.National health authorities are currently evaluating targeted vaccination campaigns in the temporary shelters based on risk, vaccine availability and national guidelines, Cerpa added.“The issue we foresee just around the corner is the infections that patients who have been exposed to the disaster for the longest time might bring,” Eugenio Cova, the head of the trauma unit at Hospital Jose Gregorio Hernandez in Caracas, said last week.“We’ve already gone through a period of complex trauma, which will continue to occur, but now, it’s complicated by infections,” Cova said.Frustration about the government’s rescue and recovery efforts has led to everyday citizens taking charge to find survivors and distribute aid.Carolina Jimenez, the president of the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), a research and advocacy group, told Al Jazeera that the result has been growing anger toward the state.“In a government in any other country, the first responder should be the state,” she said last week. “In the case of Venezuela, the state has been the last responder.”In places like Catia la Mar, north of Caracas, authorities still haven’t arrived or are lacking.“[The] response has come from citizens, from civil society, from humanitarian workers, from volunteers – but not from the government,” Jimenez said.
Death toll from Venezuela quakes jumps to 3,535, thousands remain homeless
