Venezuela earthquake: father and son found alive in rubble after four days as death toll nears 1,500

A man and his teenage son were found alive under the rubble in Venezuela on Sunday, in a town about 40km north of the capital Caracas, AFP journalists reported, as the death toll from last week’s twin earthquakes passed 1,450.The discovery of survivors in Caraballeda was made by French and American rescue teams nearly four days after back-to-back quakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 struck, completely destroying nearly 200 buildings in the area.Interim president Delcy Rodríguez on Sunday praised rescuers for still pulling survivors from the ruins. “Today we have rescued people who are still alive, and therefore these efforts will not be suspended,” she said. “We always hold on to hope.”The rescue offered a glimmer of hope in an ongoing tragedy that has shaken a country already mired in an economic crisis, but tens of thousands of people were still reported missing and the critical 72-hour window for rescuing trapped victims following a natural disaster has now passed.Millions more people were reported to lack sanitation and other basic needs after one of Latin America’s most devastating earthquake disasters.A rescue worker surveys the rubble in an area affected by the earthquake in Catia La Mar. Photograph: Ronald Pena R/EPARescue teams from the US, Mexico and elsewhere scrambled to save people as desperate residents dug by hand for relatives trapped in the pancaked layers and rubble of collapsed apartments.About 774 buildings were badly damaged by the twin quakes that struck on Wednesday evening, National Assembly president Jorge Rodriguez said on Sunday. On Sunday, Rodriguez reported 1,450 dead – a toll expected to rise – with 3,150 people injured.Even as rescue efforts continued apace, outbreaks of looting hit La Guaira, a port city near the country’s main international airport. Much of the city now lies in rubble after Wednesday’s disaster. Pharmacies, supermarkets and other businesses were ransacked, said residents, some of whom complained of the slow and meagre post-quake aid coming from authorities.US helicopters ferried in aid, and 230 more US military personnel were arriving to help expand airport capacity and reopen a key seaport to boost relief efforts, the US Southern Command said on Sunday.The US – which seized Venezuela’s former president Nicolás Maduro in a military raid on Caracas in January – had already sent a 250-strong disaster response team.But the prospect for rescuing more survivors has dwindled.A Salvadoran rescue worker who declined to give his name, said: “At this point, they are probably dead bodies. Thanks to God maybe we can find people still alive.”Venezuelan Bolivarian Army soldiers walk in front of a damaged building in La Guaira state. Photograph: Miguel Medina/ReutersExasperation has boiled over in some locales where residents claim that authorities have not done enough to rescue earthquake victims. “The country needs you. Put down your weapon,” one man shouted to soldiers in the Tanaguarena area of hard-hit La Guaira state, urging them to pick up picks and shovels instead.Facing public outrage at the response by local officials, President Rodriguez thanked other countries for the outpouring of aid.Twenty-four nations have sent 521 tons of supplies, 86 units with dogs trained to locate people trapped beneath the rubble and more than 2,700 search-and-rescue personnel, she said.The UN migration agency said that up to 6.76 million people could be affected by the disasters, and would require shelter, water, sanitation, healthcare and essential relief items.Venezuela’s worst earthquakes in more than a century have come after the oil-rich country endured more than a decade of economic collapse. The crisis has hollowed out hospitals and public services, driving millions to leave the country.The UN has put the bill for physical repairs at $6.7bn – equivalent to six% of Venezuela’s GDP.On Sunday Venezuelan opposition figure Maria Corina Machado, who is in exile, announced she would return “very soon” to her homeland.“The time has come,” she told US broadcaster Fox News. “We need to be together, to embrace, to grieve and mourn together, but also to give each other strength at this difficult time.”