Venezuela earthquake death toll tops 2,300 as humanitarian crisis deepens, up to 50,000 still 'missing'

CARACAS: Authorities in Venezuela late on Wednesday said the death toll has risen to over 2,000 people as Venezuela marked a week since the deadly earthquakes hit the country.

Venezuela's National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez said on Wednesday that deaths had risen to 2,300, and more than 11,000 people were injured.

He said almost 13,000 people had been left homeless. The United Nations estimates up to 50,000 people are missing.

As the death toll mounted, Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodriguez declared seven days of mourning, saying the country's "soul is torn apart by the human losses."

The revised figures underscore the scale of one of the deadliest natural disasters to strike Venezuela in modern history.

Search-and-rescue teams continue to comb through collapsed buildings days after the powerful magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes struck northern Venezuela on June 24, devastating coastal communities, including La Guaira, and damaging parts of Caracas.

Authorities say the number of casualties is expected to rise further as emergency crews search mountains of rubble and work to reach isolated communities.

Tens of thousands of people also remain unaccounted for, while hundreds of thousands have been affected by the disaster through displacement, loss of housing, or damage to essential services.

The catastrophe has triggered an escalating humanitarian emergency. Hospitals are struggling to cope with the influx of injured patients amid shortages of medicines, equipment and medical personnel, while aid agencies have warned of growing risks from contaminated water, poor sanitation and potential outbreaks of infectious diseases in overcrowded shelters.

International rescue teams from dozens of countries continue to assist Venezuelan authorities, with specialised crews, field hospitals and emergency supplies arriving as hopes of finding additional survivors fade.

Despite several remarkable rescues in recent days, officials acknowledge that the operation is increasingly shifting from rescue to recovery.

The twin earthquakes have left widespread destruction, flattening neighborhoods, crippling transport and public infrastructure, and exposing longstanding weaknesses in Venezuela's healthcare system and emergency response capacity.

As the country enters the recovery phase, officials and humanitarian organizations warn that rebuilding damaged communities could take years.