The first three days are always critical in a major disaster. Aid agencies consider those first 48 to 72 hours as crucial for retrieving people alive, though that can be extended if they have access to food and water.

Venezuelan officials said 17 flights carrying more than 1,600 rescue team members had touched down by Saturday as rescue workers fan out in the most devastated areas.  Approximately 6 million people are affected in the quake zone.

Search teams from Mexico, the U.S.A, Brazil, El Salvador, France and other countries are now on the ground. Rescuers search through partially collapsed buildings, pushing their heads into holes in pancaked concrete to search for signs of life, occasionally hearing movement and digging to locate survivors.  The work is physical and emotional.

LAGUAIRA/CARACAS, June 27 (Reuters) – The death toll from Venezuela’s devastating twin earthquakes rose above 1,400 on Saturday as ​foreign rescue teams poured into the country and authorities pressed on with the search for survivors in the hardest-hit coastal areas.
The updated toll came as ‌rescuers fanned out across La Guaira and parts of Caracas, where families and volunteers have spent days pulling survivors and bodies from the rubble, often complaining of scant heavy equipment and a limited official presence.

Officials said more than 1,600 foreign rescuers had arrived and that additional teams were on the way, adding to a growing international response to the twin quakes that struck on Wednesday and unleashed hundreds of aftershocks.
In Caraballeda, one of the ​worst-hit areas of La Guaira, U.S. helicopters ferried rescue teams into a dusty landing zone, according to Reuters witnesses, dropping off crews before taking off again.
Among the crowds ​of volunteers was Alejandro Serrano, a 33-year-old industrial engineer who had traveled from San Cristobal in western Venezuela searching for his 24-year-old sister, Ana ⁠Serrano, who lived in the Bahía Mar building in Caraballeda, which was destroyed in the quakes. (read more)

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