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Seven Spanish firefighters leave Venezuela after five days of earthquake rescue
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Disasters & Emergencies

Seven Spanish firefighters leave Venezuela after five days of earthquake rescue

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News From a news agency Outcome reported
  • A team of seven Spanish firefighters concluded their five-day rescue mission in Venezuela following devastating earthquakes.
  • The earthquakes, measuring magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5, have resulted in over 2,200 deaths and more than 11,000 injuries.
  • Despite intense efforts, the firefighters did not find survivors, noting the widespread destruction in the affected coastal areas.

A team of seven Spanish firefighters has departed Venezuela after a challenging five-day mission focused on rescue efforts in areas devastated by recent earthquakes. The earthquakes, registering magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, struck the region a week prior, leaving a tragic toll of 2,295 confirmed deaths and 11,267 injuries.

It has been an intense job, we have been working practically three consecutive days without stopping.

— Eugenio ManteroDescribing the demanding nature of the rescue operations.

Eugenio Mantero, secretary of the NGO Bomberos para el Mundo (Firefighters for the World) from Spain, described the work as "intense," with the team operating almost continuously for three days. They focused their search operations during the cooler nighttime hours, from after 6 p.m. local time until dawn, to mitigate the impact of high temperatures in the coastal state of La Guaira during the day.

"Unfortunately, we were not able to find any survivors," Mantero stated. He emphasized the "generalized" and "maximum" destruction observed in the affected zones of Playa Grande and Caraballeda, where nearly all buildings had collapsed or were severely damaged. Mantero also expressed gratitude for the solidarity shown by the Venezuelan people, who provided food for the rescue team.

Unfortunately, we were not able to find any survivors.

— Eugenio ManteroReporting the outcome of the search efforts.

This Spanish team's departure follows that of a Dutch search and rescue unit, which also concluded its mission after concluding that the chances of finding survivors had significantly diminished. International aid has been substantial, with the UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team reporting that approximately 3,000 international rescuers have arrived in Venezuela. These efforts have resulted in the rescue of 12 people alive, according to UNDAC. The Venezuelan government has stated that around 4,000 international rescuers are present, and 6,461 individuals have been rescued overall.

the destruction of the area has been generalized and maximum in all buildings.

— Eugenio ManteroDescribing the extent of damage in the earthquake-affected zones.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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