Venezuela quake toll rises above 3,500 as shelters fill

Venezuela’s confirmed death toll from two powerful earthquakes has risen to 3,535, according to a Monday update cited by lawmaker Jorge Rodriguez. The disaster has left nearly 18,000 people without homes, while doctors and aid workers warn that crowded shelters could worsen health risks.

Rodriguez said the latest official figures listed 16,740 injured people and 17,854 residents left without housing, Al Jazeera and Reuters reported. At least 12,800 people were in 80 shelters across Caracas and the coastal state of La Guaira, the areas hit hardest by the quakes.

The June 24 earthquakes measured magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5 and struck within seconds of each other in and around Caracas and La Guaira, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters. The outlets reported that an estimated 60,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed.

Burials under way in La Guaira

In La Guaira on Monday, Reuters witnesses reported seeing trucks and forensic workers moving coffins as machinery dug trenches in an open area marked with white crosses. Authorities were burying bodies there after the earthquakes, Reuters reported.

The mounting toll has strained local services in communities already dealing with destroyed housing and mass displacement. Al Jazeera and Reuters reported that many survivors are staying in temporary shelters or sleeping outdoors without reliable access to clean water.

Doctors warn of infections

Health experts have warned that the aftermath could bring a broader medical crisis, according to Al Jazeera. The outlet reported that thousands of displaced people are living in close quarters, while some survivors have untreated injuries and infectious diseases as Venezuela’s healthcare system struggles to respond.

Eugenio Cova, head of the trauma unit at Hospital Jose Gregorio Hernandez in Caracas, told Al Jazeera last week that infections among people exposed to disaster conditions were a growing concern. He said trauma cases were continuing, but infections were making treatment more complicated.

Al Jazeera correspondent Teresa Bo, reporting last week from a shelter site in La Guaira, said residents had reported diarrhoea and other illnesses. She said people at the site were asking for portable toilets and government help to reduce overcrowding and limit the spread of disease.

Anger over relief efforts

The response has also drawn criticism from residents and civil society groups. Al Jazeera reported that frustration with government rescue and relief efforts has led ordinary citizens to organise searches for survivors and distribute aid.

Carolina Jimenez, president of the Washington Office on Latin America, told Al Jazeera that public anger toward the state was rising because many people did not see the government leading the emergency response. She said citizens, civil society groups, humanitarian workers and volunteers had taken on much of the work in places such as Catia la Mar, north of Caracas.

Jimenez told Al Jazeera that in some affected areas, authorities had not arrived or were not present in sufficient numbers. Her comments added to reports that relief efforts remain uneven as the number of dead, injured and displaced continues to grow.

This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.