US sends emergency aid to Venezuela as earthquake death toll rises
Fox News correspondent Nate Foy reports live from the debris fields of Caracas, documenting rescue efforts after magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes devastated Venezuela. As the death toll exceeds 1,400 and more than 68,900 civilians are missing, search and rescue teams are working with the US military to rescue survivors from the collapsed 17-storey high-rise building before the critical 72-hour survival window closes.
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Search and rescue teams in Venezuela pulled 33 people alive from collapsed buildings after a twin earthquake struck the country’s northern coast over the weekend, but officials and aid workers warned Sunday that time was fast running out and about 50,000 people were still feared missing.
The death toll as of late Saturday night stood at 1,430, according to the Associated Press. According to Venezuelan officials, more than 3,000 people have been injured and about the same number are living in shelters.
The worst destruction was in coastal La Guaira state, where entire apartment blocks, hotels and public housing buildings were destroyed after successive earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 struck on Wednesday. Hundreds of aftershocks continue to rattle damaged areas, complicating rescue efforts and leaving survivors exposed in the heat.
The 33 people rescued included an infant pulled alive from the debris by American rescue teams, an 11-year-old boy found about 10 feet below the surface by the Colombian team after a scanner, and another 11-year-old boy rescued by the Mexican team at Carraballeda.
US rescue teams pull newborn alive from debris in Venezuela, days after devastating twin earthquakes
U.S. firefighters from Fairfax County, Virginia, dispatched by the State Department, work to reach earthquake survivors trapped under debris in La Guaira, Venezuela, Sunday, June 28, 2026. (Matias Delacroix)
“Each life in these hours is hope for Venezuelans,” Acting President Delcy Rodríguez wrote on Twitter after a rescue.
Swiss rescue team leader Sebastian Eugster told Reuters the chances of finding survivors had diminished sharply after nearly 72 hours under the debris. That mark was passed on Saturday evening.
“There’s a window of about three days, 72 hours, where after that point the chances go down that you can rescue people alive,” Eugster said.
The missing toll remains highly uncertain. The government reported hundreds of people missing or trapped, while some estimated fewer than 50,000 people were missing on Sunday, down from 55,000 the day before. The AP reported that families listed 68,900 people as missing on Saturday, underscoring the chaos in accounting for the dead, displaced and those cut off due to communications failures.
After the massive earthquake in Venezuela, the Trump administration promised to provide $ 150 million in aid, deployed naval warships.
With the desperation of the window of survival closing as the days and hours pass, Starlink has provided communications services to 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 as quickly as possible to @DigitelAyuda and @movilnet_ve customers,” Starlink posted on Twitter on Sunday.
“Families, communities and businesses with compatible LTE smartphones can now stay connected via SMS even when the terrestrial network is not available and customer phones will automatically connect to Starlink Mobile. Coverage will work best with a clear view of the sky.”
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Pope Leo on Sunday expressed solidarity with survivors and the families of the victims, offering hope.
“I want to express my closeness to the Venezuelan sisters and brothers affected by the recent earthquakes, which have left many dead and injured,” the pontiff said in Spanish before worshipers gathered for Sunday’s Angelus prayer in Rome.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
