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World26 June 2026 - 21:15

Venezuelans try to reach missing relatives as earthquakes death toll doubles to 920

The quakes, with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, hit a minute apart on Wednesday night.

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by BBC NEWS
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The number of people killed in two Venezuelan earthquakes jumps to 920, with 3,360 injured, acting President Delcy Rodríguez says.

It comes as international rescue teams join the search for survivors, with 80 Swiss rescuers and a team of Mexican aid workers among those helping.

Local teams searched through the night in collapsed buildings in Caracas and the state of La Guaira - earlier a woman was pulled alive from rubble.

People have been trying to reach their missing relatives - Marianella tells BBC News Mundo "my heart tells me my brother is alive"

A doctor in La Guaira tells the BBC the two main hospitals in the state are "completely overwhelmed", with a "critical lack" of medical supplies.

The quakes, with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, hit a minute apart on Wednesday night, and the second was the strongest to hit Venezuela since 1900 - here's what else we know.

'They are all I have' - mother holds out hope her daughters will be found

"There was a small shopping centre here," says Natacha Diaz, standing next to the site of a destroyed building in La Guaira. "It was where my two daughters worked."

She tells the BBC her missing daughters are aged 22 and 23.

"They were with their friends," she says. "I just want them to be found. I have faith and hope that they are there."

"I just want them back with me. They are all I have, please."

Mother dies saving daughter in Venezuela earthquakes

The wife of Venezuelan footballer Héctor Bello died while saving their daughter during this week's earthquakes.

Bello wrote on Instagram that "his precious love", named by Venezuelan news outlets as his wife Andrea, saved the life of their toddler during two powerful quakes.

"I'll tell her the story of how you saved her, my love - how you gave your own life for our daughter, how you were a brave woman who never abandoned her, even as you took your last breaths," Bello wrote in his post.

In a series of posts, Bello said he travelled to Caracas, where his daughter was in hospital.

"My daughter and her aunt are doing well, they won't be discharged today - they're staying at the hospital. Thank you so much for supporting me through this immense pain," he posted overnight on Friday.

In a separate Instagram story, Bello wrote: "How do I explain to your daughter that you lost your life to save hers, and that I wasn't there to do anything? How do I explain it? Give me strength now."

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