Venezuela earthquake death toll climbs over 1,400 as rescuers search

Foreign rescue teams — including three from the United States — were racing against time in the aftermath of twin earthquakes that rocked Venezuela's northern coast as the death toll from the disaster increased, officials said.

On June 28, Venezuelan officials said the death toll rose by 20, reaching about 1,450 people killed in the earthquakes. At least 3,150 others remained injured, and roughly 12,721 people have been displaced, according to officials.

The tally is expected to climb, according to U.S. Geological Survey data, which estimates more than 10,000 casualties are possible.

"Rescue and recovery efforts are ongoing. Today, we have recovered people alive and, therefore, operations are not being suspended. We always maintain hope," said Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela’s interim president.

She added that school classes would be suspended for one more week and the electricity supply in La Guaira — the worst-affected area — had been restored to 75%. Dozens of buildings had collapsed in the coastal state, about 25 miles north of the South American country's capital of Caracas.

Rodríguez reported earlier that at least 33 people had been rescued so far, including several children. Overnight, she announced on X that a youngster had been pulled from the rubble in the coastal state of La Guaira with video showing rescue workers carrying him out on a stretcher.

"A few minutes ago, an 11-year-old boy was rescued alive in Caraballeda," she wrote. "At this time, every life is a source of hope for Venezuela."

But tens of thousands remain unaccounted for, with time for finding more survivors running thin.

"There exists a window of roughly three days, 72 hours, where the probability afterwards decreases that you can save people alive," Sebastian Eugster, the leader of the Swiss rescue team, told Reuters on June 27.

Foreign rescue workers heading to Venezuela

The two earthquakes, with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, struck within one minute of each other on June 24, devastating the region.

Venezuelan officials said more than 2,600 foreign rescue workers were in the country with more on the way. They include elite emergency units based in Fairfax County, Virginia; Los Angeles County, California; and Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Workers were dispatched throughout La Guaira and parts of Caracas, where families and volunteers have spent the last few days pulling survivors and bodies from the wreckage despite a lack of heavy equipment and limited guidance from authorities.

In Caraballeda, among the areas most affected by the disaster, Reuters reported that U.S. helicopters were repeatedly ferrying rescue workers into a dusty landing zone.

On June 26, Rodríguez, whose predecessor was removed by the United States in a January raid, conferred by phone with President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio and said both "reaffirmed the support of the United States government at this difficult moment for Venezuela."

Pope Leo XIV told worshippers in Rome on June 28 that he wanted "to express my closeness to the Venezuelan sisters and brothers affected by the recent earthquakes" and expressed gratitude to rescue workers.

Contributing: Thao Nguyen and Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY; Reuters