The US military raced to reopen a major port in Venezuela to ease aid deliveries on Monday as the deaths from last week’s twin […]
View of US Navy helicopters in the port of La Guaira, La Guaira State, Venezuela on June 29, 2026, following the June 24 twin earthquakes. Photo by JUAN BARRETO / AFP
The US military raced to reopen a major port in Venezuela to ease aid deliveries on Monday as the deaths from last week’s twin earthquakes reached more than 1,700, with tens of thousands still reported missing.
Five days after powerful back-to-back quakes flattened entire neighborhoods of multi-story buildings in the coastal state of La Guaira, hopes of finding survivors are fading.
At a makeshift morgue set up in a port warehouse in La Guaira, hundreds of bodies were stored in white and black body bags and coffins waiting to be identified, an AFP correspondent reported.
Dozens of relatives waited outside for news of their families as forensic personnel in blue uniforms examined the corpses.
“There were 11 people in my household; only two of us survived because we were at work,” Wilker Molalla told AFP.
“My family is there — I’m told my sister and her children are there, as well as the children of my brother.”
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US Marines were meanwhile working to repair the quake-hit port to allow delivery of supplies and equipment, a US administration official told journalists in Washington.
American airmen were already helping to restore traffic at Simon Bolivar International Airport near Caracas, which was also damaged in one of the worst quake disasters in Latin American history.
The airport has already partially reopened to cargo and aid flights.
US helicopters have been ferrying in aid and US Marines have used a landing craft to deliver supplies from the USS Fort Lauderdale, an amphibious transport dock ship docked at La Guaira.
The chances of finding anyone alive beneath meters deep of rubble have dwindled since the critical 72-hour window passed.
But a WhatsApp message ignited hopes of a miraculous find beneath the rubble, more than 120 hours after the disaster.
your weapon,” one man ordered them.
Outbreaks of looting have hit La Guaira city, much of which now lies in rubble.
Pharmacies, supermarkets and other businesses were ransacked, said residents, some of whom complained of the slow and meager post-quake aid coming from authorities.
Rodriguez has said temporary camps were being set up for people who had lost their homes.
The UN migration agency said that based on population and damage data, up to 6.76 million people could be affected, and would require shelter, water, sanitation, healthcare and essential relief items.
