Summary

  • The death toll from Venezuela's earthquakes is now 1,430, with 3,238 injured, according to lawmaker Jorge Rodríguez

  • He describes the incident as "the most disastrous event this republic has suffered in the last 123 years"

  • Rescuers are racing to pull out survivors as the 72-hour window nears its end

  • A newborn baby is among those rescued from the rubble - watch the emotional moment

  • However, tensions are also growing over the pace and co-ordination of the government's response, writes our correspondent Will Grant

  • The quakes, with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, hit less than a minute apart while most were home for a national holiday - how locals are describing the scenes

Live Reporting

Edited by Tinshui Yeung, with Will Grant in La Guaira and Vanessa Silva in Caracas

  1. Almost 2,000 international rescuers flown into Venezuela - UN aid chief

    About a dozen rescue workers dressed in tan trousers and blue shirts, with orange helmets, walk across the tarmac onto a planeEPA/Shutterstock

    A rescue team from the Netherlands departing Eindhoven Air Base for Venezuela on Friday

    The UN's humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher says the global response to the deadly earthquakes has been "really good".

    With teams pouring in from Russia, Ukraine, America, Europe and the Middle East, "politics all falls away at this point," he tells the Today programme.

    Fletcher says that the UN has currently deployed 39 rescue teams and has seen almost 2,000 international rescue workers surging into Venezuela to help.

    The UN teams also have 111 rescue dogs, he says. Their strong sense of smell and ability to navigate tricky terrain make dogs critically important in search and rescue.

    With the UN having lost "almost half" its aid budget in the last 18 months, funding is a challenge, says Fletcher.

  2. At least 40 foreign nationals killed in quakes - reports

    Devastating back-to-back earthquakes in Venezuela have killed at least 920 people, according to officials.

    Among them are a number of foreign nationals. Here's what we have learned from international media reports.

    In an update from Beja Airbase last night, Secretary of State for Communities Emídio Sousa said 28 Portuguese nationals had been killed, according to local media outlets.

    Seven Chinese nationals have been killed, Xinhua News Agency reported citing the Chinese embassy in Venezuela.

    Spanish media reports five nationals have been killed and 119 remain missing, citing Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares.

    Two Brazilian citizens were also among those killed, the government confirmed.

    Italy's foreign ministry reports the death of an Italian-Venezuelan national following the twin earthquakes.

  3. Today 'crucial' for rescue, UN chief says, as thousands declared missing

    Tom Fletcher wears a suit and has a serious expression, he sits in front of a blue backgroundEPA/Shutterstock

    Today is a "crucial day" for search and rescue, says the UN's humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher.

    Speaking to Radio 4's Today programme, he says rescuers are "driven on minute by minute, hour by hour, by the sound of the survivors underneath the rubble," adding: "The worst thing is when those voices go quiet."

    The exact number of people missing is unclear. Acting president of Venezuela Delcy Rodríguez put the figure at 172 in her most recent update on Friday, but others say it is likely much higher.

    Speaking separately to AFP, Fletcher says that more than 50,000 people are missing. A civilian-run missing persons site also puts the figure in the tens of thousands, reporting more than 54,000 people who have been unreachable by family members.

    The site also shows that 12,215 people have been located, but does not disclose in what condition they were found.

  4. What to know about the situation in Venezuela

    Casualties: At least 920 people have been killed and 3,360 injured, according to the most recent update from authorities. Tens of thousands of people are missing.

    Area: Multiple states have been affected. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said earlier that La Guaira, a region north of the capital, had been hit the hardest. Buildings have collapsed, and people are left without a home.

    Rescue efforts: Are continuing for a third day with teams joining in from across the globe, including the UK, Mexico, Switzerland and the US.

    Earthquakes: The two powerful quakes rocked Venezuela on Wednesday evening, less than a minute apart. The first quake had a magnitude of 7.2 and the second 7.5. The second was one of the strongest tremors to hit the South American country in a century.

    Aftershocks: They are continuing after the earthquakes - on Friday evening President Rodríguez said there had been 214.

    A map showing two earthquakes in Venezuela, where they hit and how hard the shaking was

  5. Families wait in front of the rubble, hoping for a miracle

    Vanessa Silva
    Reporting from La Guaira

    Firefighters and volunteers work amidst the rubble of a collapsed building.Reuters

    The BBC has been on the ground in the worst affected areas - here's the latest report from Vanessa Silva in La Guaira state:

    Destruction is everywhere - hundreds of structures have been destroyed. Buildings have been reduced to a twisted mass of cement and beams.

    Families are waiting in front of the rubble, hoping for a miracle. Natacha Díaz, a mother who is almost voiceless, tells the BBC that her two daughters are trapped in the small shopping centre where they worked as manicurists. She cries as she holds a photo of her daughters on her mobile phone.

    A few metres away, Andreína Valerio, with little sleep and accompanied by her brother-in-law, waits for a miracle that will bring back Santiaguito, her one-and-a-half-year-old son. "My only son," she tells me through tears.

    Two uncles and the boy's grandparents, who cared for the baby while his mother worked in Caracas, are also trapped.

    Police, rescuers and volunteers from other states have arrived.

    Around midday on Friday, we saw the arrival of heavy machinery to remove debris.

  6. Destruction and overwhelm: Venezuela's earthquakes in the words of locals

    A woman holding a baby in her armsInstagram

    Andrea, wife of footballer Héctor Bello. She died saving her child, Bello says

    It has been a harrowing few days for many across Venezuela as they grapple with loss following deadly earthquakes. Here's how they describe what they're going through:

    "I'll tell her the story of how you saved her, my love - how you gave your own life for our daughter," footballer Héctor Bello writes on his Instagram.

    He is writing about his wife who died in the earthquake, named as Andrea by Venezuelan news outlets.

    Bello says she saved the life of their young daughter, dying in the process during two powerful quakes.

    One woman cries as she shows photos of her two daughters, who were in a shopping centre which lies in rubble next to her.

    The women, aged 22 and 23, worked at the shopping centre and are now missing, she says. "I just want them back with me, they are all I have, please."

    "I thought I was going to die," Verónica told BBC Mundo. She was at home celebrating a national holiday when the quakes hit and says she thought her apartment walls would bury her.

    It's taking a toll on emergency crews, too. "Rescue workers are overwhelmed. They are pulling people out with their bare hands," student Antoan Marín told BBC News Mundo from Caracas.

  7. Search continues for survivors of Venezuela quakes that killed at least 920

    A man with a Venezuelan flag-themed backpack walks over the rubble of collapsed buildings in La Guaira several damaged towers stand in the backdropReuters

    A man with a Venezuelan flag-themed backpack walks over the rubble of collapsed buildings in La Guaira

    The search is continuing for survivors of two massive earthquakes in Venezuela that have killed at least 920 people and injured more than 3,300.

    Tens of thousands of people have been reported missing and rescue efforts are under way by emergency services, with international crews deployed to assist.

    The teams include specialists from 14 British fire services.

    "We literally have seen the floor open," reports our colleague Vanessa Silva in La Guaira, where hundreds of structures are destroyed.

    A doctor tells the BBC that the state's two hospitals have been "completely overwhelmed" while people who have lost their homes try to seek shelter elsewhere.

    The back-to-back quakes struck less than a minute apart during a national holiday, when people would have been home with their families. La Guaira state and the capital Caracas are the worst-hit areas.

    We have reporters on the ground in Venezuela and will bring you developments here throughout the day.