Venezuela death toll doubles to 589 as interim president pledges rescue

Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela’s interim president, vowed to fight to save “as many people as possible” as the official death toll from the country’s worst earthquake in more than a century rose to 589 and nearly 3,000 were injured. She toured La Guaira, the most devastated region, and said foreign search and rescue groups were beginning to arrive.

Outside the ruins of an eight‑floor seafront hotel flattened by twin 7.2‑ and 7.5‑magnitude quakes, Rodríguez offered solidarity to families of the victims. Volunteer searchers and relatives voiced frustration at the perceived slowness of the government response.

Paramedic Rotny Bombart spent five hours searching for his mother in a collapsed tower block called OPP 33, returning to Caracas with a gash to his right arm after there had been no government emergency workers at the scene.

Venezuela, La Guaira

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