US sends emergency aid to Venezuela as earthquake death toll rises
Fox News correspondent Nate Foy is reporting from the rubble-strewn zones of Caracas, following rescue efforts after powerful 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes tore through Venezuela. With the confirmed death toll now above 1,400 and more than 68,900 people still unaccounted for, emergency teams working with the U.S. military are racing to reach survivors trapped inside a collapsed 17-story building before the crucial 72-hour survival window closes.
Rescue workers in Venezuela saved 33 people from ruined buildings over the weekend after back-to-back earthquakes battered the country’s northern coastline, though officials and humanitarian teams cautioned Sunday that hope is fading for nearly 50,000 people still feared missing.
As of late Saturday, the death toll had reached 1,430, The Associated Press reported. Venezuelan officials said more than 3,000 people have been injured, with a similar number now staying in emergency shelters.
The heaviest destruction has been reported in coastal La Guaira state, where apartment towers, hotels and public housing complexes collapsed after the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude quakes hit minutes apart on Wednesday. Ongoing aftershocks have shaken already weakened communities, slowing rescue operations and forcing many residents to remain outdoors in the heat.
Those pulled out alive included an infant rescued from debris by U.S. crews, an 11-year-old boy located by a Colombian team after scanning equipment detected him roughly 10 feet below the surface, and another 11-year-old freed by Mexican rescuers in Caraballeda.
Firefighters from Fairfax County, Virginia, deployed by the U.S. State Department, work Sunday, June 28, 2026, to reach earthquake survivors trapped beneath rubble in La Guaira, Venezuela. (Matias Delacroix)
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“In these hours each life is hope for Venezuela,” Acting President Delcy Rodríguez wrote on X following one of the rescues.
Sebastian Eugster, who leads a Swiss rescue team, told Reuters that the likelihood of finding people alive falls steeply after about 72 hours trapped under debris. That threshold passed Saturday evening.
“There exists a window of roughly three days, 72 hours, where the probability afterwards decreases that you can save people alive,” Eugster said.
The missing toll remains highly uncertain. The government has spoken of hundreds missing or trapped, while some estimated just under 50,000 people as missing Sunday, down from 55,000 a day earlier. The AP reported that families had listed 68,900 people missing Saturday, underscoring the chaos in accounting for the dead, the displaced and those cut off by communications failures.
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With the desperation of the survival window closing as the days and hours wear on, Starlink has provided communication services for the humanitarian crisis.
“Starlink Mobile is providing free connectivity to @MovistarVe customers in the La Guaira region, and we are working to provide free service for @DigitelAyuda and @movilnet_ve customers as quickly as possible,” Starlink posted Sunday to X.
“Families, communities and businesses with compatible LTE smartphones can now stay connected through SMS even if terrestrial networks are not available and customer phones will automatically connect to Starlink Mobile. Coverage will work best with a clear view of the sky.”
Pope Leo on Sunday expressed solidarity with survivors and victims’ families holding out hope.
“I wish to express my closeness to the Venezuelan sisters and brothers affected by the recent earthquakes that caused numerous victims and injuries,” the pontiff said in Spanish before worshippers gathered for Sunday’s Angelus prayer in Rome.
