Zürcher Nachrichten - UN calls for food, shelter to help Venezuela quake survivors

Last week's 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude quakes -- the strongest to hit the country in more than a century -- have left tens of thousands unaccounted for and prompted a frantic search and rescue operation for survivors trapped in the rubble of flattened buildings.

The UN refugee agency said "food shortages are widespread, basic services have broken down, and connectivity has been largely severed" in the port city of La Guaira, north of the capital, Caracas.

"Community tensions are rising as access to assistance remains constrained," UNHCR spokesperson Carlotta Wolf said.

The agency said it needed some $14.85 million to scale-up protection, core relief items and temporary shelter for 30,000 earthquake-affected people over six months.

The quakes likely damaged or destroyed 58,870 buildings, according to a preliminary assessment of satellite data published by NASA.

World Health Organization spokesman Christian Lindmeier said health services in Venezuela were overstretched and under "extreme pressure" due to demand.

"There's an increased risk now of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases" such as measles and diptheria, due to low pre-earthquake vaccination coverage.

Higher risks were also possible of yellow fever, malaria, dengue, chikungunya and Zika, he told reporters in Geneva.

- Bare hands -

AFP on Monday saw black body bags containing victims of the quake lined up near a makeshift morgue at the dock in La Guaira, where many people had come for news of their loved ones or to identify their remains.

Darvin Silva, 37, described how he battled to reach his mother, who died under a pillar in a collapsed building.

"The effort it took me to get her out of there with my bare hands, with sledgehammers, with pickaxes... you can't even begin to imagine," he said.

"I hope that I can now offer her the rest she deserves... I can't sleep peacefully as long as my mother is here," he said of the morgue.

Rayza Leon said her mother, brother, his wife and six children -- three boys and three girls -- were all trapped, and only five of the nine survived.

"The three boys were rescued, as well as him and his wife. My mother is still under the rubble with my five-year-old niece, and we brought the twin girls here, they're seven years old," she added.

The critical 72-hour window during which survivors were still likely to be found closed on Saturday evening.

But rescuers in hard hats and high-visibility vests were still picking through the twisted metal and shattered concrete.

"We've rescued 38 people so far -- 16 alive and 22 dead," said one volunteer, Moises Faramalla Perez.

"But we're still on the ground, trying to find one more person alive. That's where we are now."

Around 50,000 people are still listed as missing, according to the UN.

- Body bags -

Some seven million people in Venezuela would be affected by the disaster, the UN has said, with the quakes knocking a $6.7-billion hole in the economy -- or six percent of Venezuela's GDP.

Residents are not hiding their anger over the government's slow and limited aid in a country mired in a deep crisis that has driven millions to emigrate in recent years.

A total of 27 countries have mobilized nearly 40 search and rescue teams. They include more than 2,000 troops and personnel, along with more than 160 dogs, according to Gianluca Rampolla, the UN coordinator in Venezuela.

The world body is providing 10,000 body bags, though it hopes the final toll will be lower.

Between Friday and Sunday, 60 to 70 burials were held each day.

Back at the makeshift morgue, many are still waiting for the remains of their loved ones who are presumed dead.

"My family is there -- I'm told my sister and her children are there, as well as the children of my brother," Wilker Molalla told AFP as he waited to identify the remains.

"There were 11 people in my household; only two of us survived because we were at work," he said, referring to his brother.

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E.Schneyder--NZN