UK Government to match public donations for aid to Venezuela up to £2m as number killed rises to 2,000
Fatalities due to the twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela last Wednesday now stand at 1,943.
The UK Government will match public donations to the Disaster Emergency Committee’s appeal to provide humanitarian aid to Venezuela up to £2 million.
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This is in addition to the £2 million of initial humanitarian funding support from the UK Government to help Venezuela in the aftermath of two earthquakes last week.
The earthquakes struck the South American country in quick succession last Wednesday causing significant loss of life and severe damage to homes and infrastructure.
Speaking at the start of Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Sir Keir Starmer said: “Our thoughts, and I’m sure the thoughts of the whole House, are with the people of Venezuela.
“The scenes of destruction are simply harrowing.
“We’ve committed humanitarian funding, deployed expert search and rescue teams, and I can announce today that we’ll match public donations up to £2 million on aid.”
Read more: Aftershock hits Caracas as rescue efforts enter critical hours in Venezuela
Read more: Two boys pulled from the rubble in Venezuela after devastating earthquake
Fatalities due to the twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela last Wednesday now stand at 1,943, lawmaker Jorge Rodriguez said on Tuesday, adding that the number of injured almost doubled to 10,571.
Rescue teams in Venezuela were losing hope of finding more survivors on Tuesday following hours of gruelling work searching for victims beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings.
Rescue teams from Ecuador and the US halted operations early on Tuesday in Macuto, a town in La Guaira state — the area hardest hit by the June 24 earthquakes — after more than 40 hours of work, when they stopped receiving responses from a mother and her three children trapped beneath a nine-story building.
"In the end, we believe the days have already passed and that what we will find now is death," said Major Jorge Montanero, leader of the EQ11 team from Guayaquil, located on Ecuador's Pacific coast.
"Unfortunately, things haven't developed favourably," he said as he stood amid rubble after cutting through four concrete slabs of the building in an effort to locate the four trapped victims.
The World Health Organisation has said Venezuela's healthcare system is under significant strain, with some hospitals damaged and others missing staff.
At least three health centres are critically damaged and six others are damaged or only partially functional, WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier told a Geneva press briefing.
"The rest remain operational (but) under significant strain," he said, referring to a survey of 21 health facilities.
"Preliminary findings reveal chaotic service delivery and patient flow, marked by overcrowding (and) growing surgical backlogs," he added.
Several healthcare workers specialised in maternity care in La Guaira remain missing, he said, creating what he called a critical gap in obstetric care.
The thousands of people displaced by the quakes are also at risk of disease outbreaks like yellow fever and dengue, especially given relatively low vaccination coverage, he said.