The death count from last month's devastating twin earthquakes in Venezuela has surpassed 4,800, the government reported on Wednesday.
The 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude quakes struck within a minute of each other on June 24, decimating the coastal state of La Guaira located north of Caracas.
The disaster has killed 4,829 people, according to a new toll shared by National Assembly chief Jorge Rodriguez on Telegram.
Rodriguez posted a table on the US social media platform X, indicating that a total of 18,000 people have been injured in the powerful tremors, with more than 17,907 displaced. According to him, the quakes damaged 856 buildings, including 190 that collapsed.
He said more than 30,000 volunteers had signed up to help victims during the critical phase of the disaster and that the government is seeking to use their services in the construction and repair of homes destroyed in the tragedy. Authorities have assisted 128,324 families and established 107 temporary camps housing 20,857 people.
The government also plans to set up camps with single-family transitional housing “while permanent homes are being built", Rodriguez said.
The United Nations launched an appeal for roughly $300 million to assist 1.3 million people in urgent need of aid in Venezuela. The organisation has requested the immediate release of the pending $15 million to repair the country’s essential infrastructure, including damaged hospitals, and to maintain basic sanitation in camps for the displaced to prevent a health emergency.
Successive quakes that struck Venezuela on June 24 destroyed coastal parts and left thousands trapped in one of the worst tragedies in the country’s recent history.
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