Aid planes landing at partially reopened Venezuela airport after quakes: US official

Venezuela's Simon Bolivar International Airport was partially reopened Saturday and accepting cargo flights carrying aid, a senior US official told reporters.

"I'm really pleased to announce that this morning Simon Bolivar Airport, one of the runways, is operational again and is landing C-17s," the official said of the country's main international airport serving the capital Caracas. C-17 refers to a type of US military transport plane.

"As we got the airport open, we have mobile hospitals coming in today, they're going to be able to hopefully land at Simon Bolivar."

The death toll from Wednesday's twin earthquakes currently stands at nearly 1,000 with tens of thousands feared missing.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, also said the USS Fort Lauderdale, an amphibious military ship, was now in position off the Venezuelan coast, which would allow for more rescue flights around the badly hit city of La Guaira.

"We're able to airlift people to use the medical facilities, as necessary, on that vessel, and to use it to do command and control and logistics, and to use their airlift," the official said. "So we're going to see an increase in our capability to be using rotor aircraft."

Speaking to reporters, the official said that the United States had already released some $150 million in aid, and that the official was expecting "another additional package...of nine figures" to be announced in the coming days.

Back at the airport, one of the runways "is completely cracked and inoperable," the official said.

The US military would be "helping to coordinate flights in the tower," the official said, noting that the airport has "been very congested...really owing to how many international elements and humanitarian groups are trying to respond to this disaster."

The twin earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 and were the strongest to hit the country since 1900. The last major quake in the area was in 1997.