Venezuela’s interim President, Delcy Rodríguez, announced that the death toll from the June 24 earthquakes has risen to 2,595.
Speaking at a press conference held at La Carlota Air Base in the capital, Caracas, Rodríguez addressed the two powerful earthquakes that struck the country, according to Anadolu Agency (AA).
Rodríguez said the death toll from the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes that hit northern Venezuela has climbed to 2,595, with 12,400 people injured. She added that search and rescue teams from 33 countries are currently operating on the ground.
She also stated that 6,462 people have been rescued alive from the rubble since the disaster.
“Immediately after the earthquake, the Venezuelan state mobilized all of its institutions. Within just hours of the tremors, we issued a decree as our first measure to respond to this emergency. The entire civil protection system and all public safety mechanisms were immediately deployed to the affected areas,” Rodríguez said.
Responding to accusations of a “delayed response” to the disaster, Rodríguez rejected the claims.
“We immediately activated all state mechanisms. Making such accusations while people are suffering and living through immense anxiety is contemptible, unreasonable, and irresponsible. Let anyone come forward and say that aid or access is being blocked; let anyone claim there is no assistance. That is absolutely impossible. Our first and foremost priority is to save lives. We need search and rescue teams without any reservations or political considerations,” she said.
Rodríguez further stated that claims suggesting security forces and search and rescue teams were absent from the affected areas were false, describing them as deliberately fabricated propaganda.
She also recalled that the first official statement following the earthquakes was delivered by Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and noted that instructions were issued to rapidly deploy security personnel and military units immediately after the tremors.
