72-hour survival – Search-and-rescue teams pulled 33 survivors from collapsed buildings in Venezuela after twin earthquakes hit the northern coast. But officials warn time is running out for nearly 50,000 people still feared missing as the critical 72-hour window under rubble pa
For the third day, rescuers kept digging anyway—because every scrape of concrete, every shout from a trench of dust, still carried the same thin possibility: someone might be alive under it.
Over the weekend. teams in Venezuela pulled 33 people alive from collapsed buildings after twin earthquakes devastated the country’s northern coast. The hope of finding survivors is still alive, but it is narrowing fast. On Sunday, officials and aid workers warned that time was rapidly running out for nearly 50,000 people still feared missing.
The death toll stood at 1,430 as of late Saturday, according to The Associated Press. More than 3,000 people have been injured, and roughly the same number are living in shelters, according to Venezuelan authorities.
The worst devastation is concentrated in coastal La Guaira state. Whole apartment blocks. hotels. and public housing buildings pancaked after earthquakes with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5 struck in quick succession on Wednesday. Aftershocks have kept rattling damaged neighborhoods, complicating rescue work and leaving survivors exposed in the heat.
Rescues were still happening as the deadline edged closer. Among the 33 rescued were an infant pulled alive from rubble by U.S. rescuers. An 11-year-old boy was also found by a Colombian team after a scanner detected him about 10 feet below the surface. Mexican crews rescued another 11-year-old in Caraballeda.
U.S. emergency involvement has been tied to speed and access. U.S. firefighters from Fairfax County, Virginia—sent by the State Department—worked Sunday to reach survivors trapped in the rubble in La Guaira, Venezuela.
Acting President Delcy Rodríguez wrote on X after one of the rescues: “In these hours each life is hope for Venezuela.”
Rescue-team leaders have been blunt about the timing. Swiss rescue-team leader Sebastian Eugster told Reuters that the odds of finding survivors drop sharply after roughly 72 hours under rubble. “There exists a window of roughly three days. 72 hours. where the probability afterwards decreases that you can save people alive. ” Eugster said. That mark passed Saturday evening.
What keeps families waiting is what keeps rescuers digging: the sheer uncertainty around who is still missing. The missing toll remains highly uncertain. The government has spoken of hundreds missing or trapped. while some estimated just under 50. 000 people as missing on Sunday. down from 55. 000 a day earlier.
The AP reported that families had listed 68,900 people missing on Saturday, underscoring the chaos in accounting for the dead, the displaced, and those cut off by communications failures.
As the survival window closes, the crisis has also been shaped by the ability to contact loved ones. Starlink provided communication services for the humanitarian crisis. Starlink posted Sunday on X: “Starlink Mobile is providing free connectivity to @MovistarVe customers in the La Guaira region. and we are working to provide free service for @DigitelAyuda and @movilnet_ve customers as quickly as possible.” The company added that families. communities and businesses with compatible LTE smartphones can stay connected through SMS even if terrestrial networks are not available. and that customer phones will automatically connect to Starlink Mobile. Coverage is expected to work best with a clear view of the sky.
In Rome, Pope Leo expressed solidarity with survivors and victims’ families while urging hope. The pontiff said in Spanish before worshippers gathered for Sunday’s Angelus prayer: “I wish to express my closeness to the Venezuelan sisters and brothers affected by the recent earthquakes that caused numerous victims and injuries.”.
By Sunday. the story coming out of La Guaira was no longer only about the moment of rescue—it was about time itself. The same buildings that offered sudden survivals over the weekend now stand as reminders of what happens when hours pass. when lists of the missing remain unclear. and when the world counts down to what can still be pulled from the rubble alive.
Venezuela earthquake La Guaira 33 rescued 72-hour window missing persons search and rescue U.S. aid Starlink Mobile Delcy Rodríguez Pope Leo