Rescue operations in Venezuela have reached a critical turning point. As of Saturday evening, 72 hours have passed since Wednesday’s two deadly earthquakes, making it a critical time to rescue people trapped under rubble.
Rescue operations continue in Caracas
Three days after an earthquake struck Venezuela, rescue workers continue to search through the rubble. CNN’s Mary Trinny Mena reports.
After three days, the chances of survival without water decrease rapidly. However, some studies indicate that most survivor rescues may occur within the first five to six days after a disaster.
David Emmanuel Villa Tejeda, who is in Caracas with the Mexican rescue team Los Topos (commonly known as Mores), said the situation there was “difficult” because the damaged buildings were so tall and there were so many things to search.
“It’s difficult because the earthquakes happened one after the other and they weren’t very deep,” Villa Tejeda told reporters accompanying him on a rescue mission in Venezuela. “That’s why so many buildings collapsed.”
The outlook is negative, at least in the building where he worked in the capital. The state of the building’s collapse “makes it very difficult to find anyone alive,” he said.
See why Venezuela’s ‘pancake’ building collapse is so deadly
Still, Tejeda remains hopeful. His team found themselves in a situation where “after 10 days they pulled out people who were still alive under the rubble.”
Lois Pace, director of the Americas for the Red Cross, told CNN that frequent aftershocks after the quake are impacting efforts to rescue survivors trapped in collapsed buildings.
“I don’t know if people realize how constant this threat is,” Pace said. Venezuelan officials said early Saturday that there have been at least 430 consecutive aftershocks since the two major earthquakes.
“Every time I speak to the team on the ground on the phone, the shaking continues,” Pace continued. “This is happening so constantly and is so frightening, it means our teams have to be very careful when entering these communities to assess or provide services.”
