Venezuela quake deaths pass 3,000

The death toll from Venezuela’s devastating twin earthquakes rose to at least 3,342 on Sunday, as authorities began burying dozens of bodies that remained unidentified 11 days after the disaster.

The June 24 double quake, one of Latin America’s deadliest, flattened scores of buildings in the La Guaira coastal region north of Caracas and left thousands missing.

With international rescue teams winding down their search efforts, the focus has shifted to mourning the dead and laying to rest the remains families have recovered from the wreckage.

At La Esperanza cemetery in La Guaira, gravediggers buried more than 150 unidentified bodies in a secluded section of the grounds, AFP journalists reported.

A row of plain white crosses, each with small bouquets at its base, marked the graves. Every cross carried the same date: June 24, 2026.

Two excavators were still digging more graves into the light-brown soil.

“We are first and foremost overcome with grief,” said local resident Eli Zavala, who was helping with the burials.

“We started here on July 25th, the very next day, to do all the work…so that all those people could have dignified burials.”

Latest official figures released on Sunday put the number of dead at 3,342, with another 16,700 injured.

Nearly 200 buildings have collapsed completely, most of them in La Guaira, leaving more than 17,000 people homeless and living in shelters or temporary camps.

The government has not released an official count of the missing, but the UN says as many as 50,000 people could still be unaccounted for after the quakes.

Many families continue searching through the rubble for relatives.

“I’ve lost track of the days. You lose your mind, but I’m not leaving here because I know he’s there,” said Zuly, who was searching for her son in Catia la Mar district.

She is now sleeping in a plaza near where he worked.

“I found his motorcycle, I found his helmet. He’s there, God willing, alive. If not, at least I can find him, see him…I’m not leaving here without my son.”

Even before the earthquakes, Venezuela was already struggling with economic turmoil and political instability that had weakened infrastructure and health services.

The UN estimates the disaster caused $6.7 billion in damage, equal to about six percent of Venezuela’s GDP.

Caracas’s damaged international airport remains closed to commercial flights.

In the early days after the quakes, many Venezuelans said they were left on their own to search the ruins for loved ones and criticized the government response until international rescue teams arrived.

Interim President Delcy Rodriguez has defended the authorities’ response, saying thousands of public officials and rescue workers were deployed.

On Sunday, she brushed aside fears of unrest linked to the disaster.

“There will be no social unrest here, what we have here is deep social solidarity,” Rodriguez said during a military ceremony marking the country’s independence day.

Across Caracas and La Guaira, many people instead spent Sunday in church services and memorial gatherings for the dead and missing.

At Venezuela Central University in Caracas, dozens assembled around a large Venezuelan flag ringed by candles for a vigil.

“I’ve met with couples who have lost both their children, or two of their three. It’s very painful,” Father Rafael Troconis told AFP in La Guaira.

“You try to offer support as much as you can. You want to be close to those who are suffering. You notice a lot of sadness and despair.”