Venezuela earthquake death toll rises to 2,595

Venezuela interim president Delcy Rodriguez on Friday announced that the death toll from twin earthquakes that jolted the country on June 24 has risen to 2,595, with and more than 11,000 injured. Authorities continue to rescue bodies from the debris.

The revised death toll comes soon after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank offered aid and and ⁠credit for recovery efforts after quakes devastated parts of the country.

Addressing a press conference on Thursday, the interim leader ​added that Venezuela ​is creating a $200 million reconstruction fund ‌with the IMF, and ​money ​will ⁠go to contractors to reconstruct lost homes.


Rodriguez told media that there were no plans for mass graves for those killed in the June 24 disaster, as thousands are still reported missing from the double tremors.

Earlier in the day, she also toured field hispitals set up by sister nations and international organizations as Venezuela continues to rescue citizens and rebuild infrastructure with the solidarity of 31 countries, multilateral organizations, and non-governmental organizations, which the leader called "a hug of hope for our people."

Also read: Venezuelans search more earthquake ruins as attention turns to humanitarian crisis

Uncertainty over Rodríguez's leadership future

Rodríguez on Thursday pushed back against complaints that the Venezuelan government responded too slowly to the earthquakes and left civilians to shoulder most of the rescue efforts themselves

“We did not wait one day, two days or three days. We activated immediately,” Rodríguez told foreign journalists, as quoted by AP, wearing a black ribbon as a symbol of mourning. She acknowledged that, “Naturally, at the sites where the building collapsed, the first people to arrive were survivors of the collapse itself, relatives and neighbors.”

On reports that residents of La Guaira were on their own for the first 48 hours after the tremors, and were forced to search for loved ones with their bare hands, the interim leader railed against what she called “narratives manufactured in propaganda laboratories.”

“To politicize a humanitarian tragedy like this — when the Venezuelan government and its authorities have spared no effort, public, private, national, or international — is disgraceful,” she said.

Rodríguez served as deputy to former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro until he was ousted by the United States in January and became interim leader with the backing of the Trump administration.