Venezuela: Death toll from the double earthquake exceeds 4,300 (official)

The death toll from the double earthquake in Venezuela on June 24 has been revised upwards and now exceeds 4,300, the president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodriguez, announced on Saturday.

"The number of Venezuelans who died as a direct result of the terrible earthquakes of June 24 has risen to 4,333," Rodríguez said at a press conference.

The previous toll, dated Friday, was 4,118 dead and 16,740 injured.

With magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, the two earthquakes occurred 39 seconds apart and mainly affected the capital Caracas and the neighboring state of La Guaira, where makeshift camps house refugees in stadiums, public squares and on sidewalks.

More than 19,000 disaster victims are living in these camps, according to Mr. Rodriguez.

The president of the Venezuelan National Assembly, who is also the brother of interim president Delcy Rodriguez, did not mention the number of missing persons, which the UN had estimated at around 50,000 two days after the tragedy.

He simply stated that, as of Friday, 315 bodies had not yet been identified, representing "7% of the total number of victims".

Mr. Rodriguez denied that the government would suspend body search operations, while families fear that rubble will be cleared indiscriminately.

He added that there was even hope of finding survivors in one or two locations. "The process of clearing the rubble is progressing slowly," he commented.

The two magnitude earthquakes are considered among the most severe ever recorded in Latin America.

Initial government estimates indicate that approximately 25,000 homes will need to be rebuilt.

The government has made available more than 40 plots of land in La Guaira, or about 584,000 square meters, for the construction of new housing, Mr. Rodríguez stated in this regard.

He explained that these plots of land are located on safe plains, far from the coastal area that was hit hard by the earthquake, where hundreds of buildings were damaged and more than 180 completely collapsed.