Venezuela quake death toll tops 900, search intensifies

Desperate Venezuelans and rescue teams are racing against time to find survivors following twin earthquakes that have claimed over 900 lives. The government reports 920 dead, 3,360 injured, and 172 people still trapped, with more than 50,000 reported missing. Foreign crews and aid are only beginning to reach the devastated areas nearly two days after the initial quakes struck on Wednesday evening.

A weaker 4.9 magnitude tremor on Thursday afternoon was felt in the capital, Caracas, and nearby Maracay, adding to the anxiety. Frustration is mounting over the uneven distribution of relief efforts, particularly in severely affected regions like La Guaira state. Here, residents and volunteers are resorting to digging through rubble by hand, hampered by a lack of heavy machinery and a limited official presence.

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It's the community that has managed to get people out alive. We need them to bring cranes to move the slabs. There are still people trapped.

Jennifer Palacios, 25, shared her anguish, stating that her 6-year-old son and five other relatives remain buried in the Hugo Chavez housing complex in La Guaira city. "It's the community that has managed to get people out alive," she said, pleading, "We need them to bring cranes to move the slabs. There are still people trapped."

The scale of the disaster, with an estimated $6.7 billion in direct damage, could significantly impact the political standing of interim President Delcy Rodriguez. She has been attempting to position herself as a figure of political change, despite her previous role as vice president under the ousted Nicolas Maduro. The second quake, with a magnitude of 7.5, was the most powerful recorded in Venezuela in over a century.

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We want them to give us the body ... we can't take it and here it will rot. No forensic authority has come.