The death toll from Friday's catastrophic earthquake in Venezuela has climbed to 920, authorities confirmed this morning, as British rescue teams began arriving in the devastated region. Sources on the ground report that the number is expected to rise significantly as search crews reach remote villages cut off by landslides. The quake, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, struck near the coastal city of Puerto Cabello, flattening entire neighbourhoods and triggering a tsunami warning that sent thousands fleeing inland.
British teams from the International Search and Rescue (ISAR) network landed in Caracas at dawn, equipped with sniffer dogs and listening devices. A Foreign Office spokesperson stated that the deployment is part of a coordinated international response, but questions remain about the speed of the UK's reaction. Internal documents obtained by this publication show that the first offer of assistance was made six hours after the quake, yet it took another 48 hours for teams to arrive on the ground. Critics point to bureaucratic delays and potential underfunding of disaster response units.
Meanwhile, the Maduro government has declared a state of emergency, but its handling of the crisis is drawing sharp criticism. Reports of looting and a lack of coordination among local authorities have emerged. A source within the Venezuelan civil protection agency told me that the official death count is likely a 'severe underestimate' because many bodies remain buried under rubble in areas still unreachable. The source added that the government has prioritised securing strategic infrastructure, such as oil facilities, over residential areas.
The earthquake struck at a time when Venezuela's economy is already in ruins, plagued by hyperinflation and shortages of basic goods. The disaster has further exposed the fragility of the country's infrastructure. Hospitals, already struggling with power outages and a lack of medical supplies, are now overwhelmed. British teams are setting up field hospitals in makeshift tents, but they face shortages of clean water and fuel.
International aid has been slow to arrive, with only the UK and China sending significant assets so far. The United States has offered assistance, but diplomatic tensions with the Maduro regime have complicated the logistics. A leaked memo from the US State Department suggests that Venezuela has not yet granted full clearance for American teams to operate outside the capital.
The human cost is staggering. In the coastal town of Morrocoy, where the quake triggered a landslide that buried an entire fishing village, rescue workers have recovered only 12 bodies. It is feared that over 200 people are still missing. British search dogs have located signs of life under the debris, but heavy machinery is needed to extract survivors. That equipment may not arrive for days.
As I write this, the smell of death hangs over the streets of Puerto Cabello. The bodies lie in piles outside the morgue, which has run out of storage space. The government has begun mass burials in unmarked graves, a decision that has outraged local families. One priest told me that the dead are being treated like 'anonymous refuse.'
This is a tragedy that was waiting to happen. Warning signs of poor building standards and inadequate emergency planning were ignored for decades. Now the world is left to pick up the pieces of a disaster that was as much man-made as it was natural. The British teams are doing what they can, but the real question is whether the country can survive this latest blow or whether it will finally collapse under the weight of its own mismanagement.
