A hospital in Venezuela has been overwhelmed by casualties following a significant earthquake, with medics reporting panic attacks and fractures among the injured. The facility, located in the state of Sucre, received more than 200 patients within hours of the tremor, which struck at 2:47 pm local time. The earthquake, measured at magnitude 6.
8 by the United States Geological Survey, caused widespread structural damage in the region. Witnesses described scenes of chaos as people fled collapsing buildings. The hospital’s emergency department, already strained by chronic shortages of medical supplies and staff, struggled to cope with the influx.
Officials have yet to confirm the death toll, but local sources suggest at least five fatalities. The Venezuelan government has declared a state of emergency in the affected areas, deploying military teams to assist with rescue operations. The quake’s epicentre was located 40 kilometres east of Cumaná, a city of roughly 500,000 residents.
The event underscores the country’s vulnerability to natural disasters amid its ongoing economic and political crisis.
