Earthquake in Venezuela: another major tremor. 16 Italians have died
Four of our compatriots have been injured, and 29 have been traced.
Another major earthquake has struck Venezuela, measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale, with its epicentre near La Guaira, the area hardest hit by the tragedy six days ago. The confirmed death toll has risen to 1,719, whilst tens of thousands remain missing, with hopes of finding them fading fast. Sixteen Italians have died, including a father, mother and their 22-year-old daughter from Laviano in the province of Salerno, and five members of the same family, originally from Licusati, a hamlet of Camerota, also in the Salerno area; 40 are still missing. The risk of epidemics is rising. The political clash is becoming increasingly acrimonious. Nobel laureate Machado challenges the Delcy Rodriguez–Trump axis: ‘It’s time for her to return.’ She then reveals that she is in Panama, but that the government has closed its airspace to cut her off.
The current figure is therefore 16 Italian citizens who have died in the devastating earthquake that struck Venezuela. Four people have been injured, 40 are missing and 29 compatriots have been accounted for.
The death toll from the devastating earthquakes that struck Venezuela five days ago has risen to at least 1,719. This was announced by the President of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, who went on to state that 5,034 people have been injured and tens of thousands are missing.
But hope is not lost, and the digging continues at a feverish pace, with everyone aware that these are crucial moments: the fateful 72 hours, after which any rescue operation will sadly be in vain, are running out. And there is a risk that the arrival of over 1,600 specialist rescue workers on 17 international flights, coming from all over the world (including Italia), will fail to alter the course of this tragedy. The anger that has been simmering for some time amongst the relatives of those still missing – exasperated by the delays in aid – has erupted in Chacao, one of the areas hardest hit by the earthquake.
Meanwhile, more stories of death are piling up online: among the most heart-wrenching is that of a young volunteer, in a state of shock, who breaks down in tears after recovering several children’s bodies: “We’ve been working here for hours. And we’ve discovered that the bodies we’re pulling out are all from a children’s party. You can’t imagine. It’s the hardest moment of my life.” Almost all of the Venezuelans deported from the United States, who had landed in their own country just six hours before the earthquake: there were 146 of them in total, and only 12 survived.
