Venezuela Mourns Quake Victims As Hope Of Finding Survivors Fades; Christians In Area

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent

CARACAS (Worthy News) – A period of national mourning was underway in Venezuela on Thursday as hope of finding survivors faded following last week’s devastating twin earthquakes, with the official death toll nearing 2,000 and tens of thousands of people still unaccounted for.

Acting President Delcy Rodríguez declared seven days of national mourning beginning Wednesday evening, saying Venezuela’s “soul is torn by the human losses caused by the devastating earthquakes.”

The latest official figures showed at least 1,943 people had been killed and more than 10,500 others injured after the powerful magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes struck northern Venezuela on June 24. The United Nations estimates that about 50,000 people remain missing.

Authorities acknowledged that hopes of finding more survivors were fading as rescue teams increasingly shifted from search-and-rescue operations to recovering bodies from the rubble.

SEARCH FOR SURVIVORS FADES

In the hardest-hit coastal state of La Guaira, many collapsed buildings have been marked with the letter “D” for “deceased,” indicating they have been searched with no signs of life.

“Time isn’t wasted in a place where there is no expectation of recovering people alive,” said Javier Rodes, coordinator of a Spanish rescue team whose search dog unsuccessfully combed through collapsed buildings for survivors.

There were rare miracles. Rescue workers pulled a three-year-old boy alive from the rubble on Tuesday, six days after what experts described as Venezuela’s strongest earthquake in more than a century. However, specialists say the chances of survival drop sharply after the first 72 hours.

International rescue teams, including Christian aid workers, joined Venezuelan emergency responders as survivors across the disaster zone faced growing shortages of food, safe drinking water and shelter.

HUMANITARIAN CRISIS DEEPENS

The twin earthquakes devastated neighborhoods in and around Caracas and the port city of La Guaira, exposing years of crumbling infrastructure after a prolonged economic crisis.

Many residents expressed frustration over what they described as a slow government response, while thousands remained homeless and dependent on emergency aid.

Authorities placed the heavily damaged state of La Guaira under military control, saying the measure was intended to safeguard public order and facilitate rescue and relief operations.

The disaster struck as Venezuela was undergoing a fragile political transition following the departure of former President Nicolás Maduro, complicating an already difficult humanitarian situation in one of South America’s largest oil-producing nations.

CHURCHES MOBILIZE RELIEF

Evangelical and Protestant Christians also joined the relief effort. Christian charity Samaritan’s Purse said its emergency field hospital in the hard-hit state of La Guaira had begun treating patients. The facility includes operating rooms, intensive care beds, a pharmacy and laboratory, while disaster response teams are distributing shelter materials, blankets, hygiene kits and safe drinking water.

“It’s heartbreaking to see the suffering and loss. We love the people of this country, and we want to do all that we can to help in Jesus’ Name,” said Samaritan’s Purse CEO and evangelist Franklin Graham.

In predominantly Roman Catholic Venezuela, Raúl Biord Castillo, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Caracas, called on Venezuelans to show “solidarity and charity” while urging the faithful to pray for those who lost loved ones, homes and livelihoods in the earthquakes. He also confirmed that numerous churches had suffered structural damage across predominantly Roman Catholic Venezuela but said many parishes had opened their doors to shelter displaced families and were coordinating emergency aid through parish-based Caritas networks.

Pope Leo XIV also expressed solidarity with the Venezuelan people, praying for the victims and thanking rescuers. The Vatican announced an initial emergency donation to support relief efforts through the local Catholic Church, saying additional assistance could follow as needs are assessed.

With rescue efforts winding down and humanitarian needs mounting, aid agencies warned that the coming weeks would be critical as hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans struggle to rebuild their lives after one of the deadliest natural disasters in Venezuela’s modern history.

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