Foreign secretary confirms UK will send £2 million aid to Venezuela following earthquakes
The death toll from the 7.2 and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes in the north of the country has risen to around 235
The Government is providing £2 million to help the emergency response to two earthquakes which struck Venezuela on Wednesday.
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The death toll from the 7.2 and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes in the north of the country has risen to around 235, with at least 4,300 people injured, health minister Carlos Alvarado said on Thursday.
The number of dead and injured is expected to rise.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “We are making immediately available £2 million of emergency humanitarian assistance, so that we can get search and rescue teams into Venezuela, so that we can do full assessments of the damage that’s been done.
“We’re also working with the United States, with Canada, with the United Nations, and making sure that we can get support in for Venezuela, for the people who need our help.”
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The Foreign Office said all UK staff in Venezuela were safe and it had received no reports of British nationals involved.
Any Britons requiring assistance are advised to follow the advice of local authorities and contact +58 (0) 212 263 8411 from Venezuela and 0207 008 5000 from the UK if they require urgent assistance.
Around 1,500 people are known to have been injured, with many more missing after the tremors hit an area stretching into the Amazon in Brazil.
The northern coastal region of La Guaira saw some of the heaviest damage, with aid efforts hampered by the closure of the country’s main airport.
The US Geological Survey said the first 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck west of Moron on the Caribbean coast at a depth of about 14 miles, followed a minute later by a 7.5 magnitude tremor with a depth of about six miles with an epicentre 10 miles southwest of Moron.
Acting President Delcy Rodriguez declared a state of emergency and announced a 200 million dollars (£151.6 million) fund for the reconstruction of hospitals and homes.
Mexico, Qatar, Brazil, Spain, Portugal and Canada were among countries which said they would send aid to Venezuela with secretary of state Marco Rubio confirming the US was “immediately” deploying search and rescue teams and medical resources.
The US Treasury on Thursday suspended some sanctions to help relief efforts.