Portugal declares day of mourning for Venezuela quake victims as toll reaches 1,943 dead and 50,000 missing

A week after two powerful earthquakes struck northern Venezuela on 24 June, the scale of the disaster has deepened sharply. The official death toll now stands at 1,943, according to the latest figures released by Venezuelan authorities on 1 July. Another 10,571 people were injured and more than 15,000 have been displaced, while rescue teams have pulled 6,461 survivors from the rubble. The United Nations estimates that around 50,000 people are still unaccounted for, a number that far exceeds the government's own earlier assessments.

Portugal's response

In Lisbon, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro announced that the government had declared a national day of mourning to be observed on Sunday, 5 July. The tribute is specifically dedicated to the victims of the earthquakes and, in particular, to the Portuguese citizens and Portuguese descendants who lost their lives. Montenegro said the decision was made in consultation with the President of the Republic.

We have decided in the government to designate next Sunday as a day of national mourning for the victims of the earthquakes that occurred in Venezuela and, in particular, for the Portuguese citizens and Portuguese descendants who lost their lives and for all those who have suffered the effects of these tragedies.

The Portuguese foreign ministry updated its own toll to 71 dead among Portuguese nationals and dual citizens, with 71 others still missing. The count includes 11 children and 60 adults; 61 of the dead also held Venezuelan nationality.

Rescue efforts

Portuguese rescue teams, along with international counterparts, continued to work against the clock. A 44-year-old man, Hernán Alberto Gil, has been trapped for more than six days on the third floor of a collapsed shopping centre in Playa Grande. Rescuers have established contact and are keeping him hydrated, but extracting him remains difficult. On Tuesday, a Jordanian team rescued a three-year-old child alive, offering one of the few bright spots in an otherwise grim search.

Crimes amid the chaos

The disaster has been marred by looting. Four agents of Venezuela's scientific police force, the CICPC, were arrested and expelled from the corps after they were accused of stealing cash and other valuables from the rubble in La Guaira state. Videos shared on social media showed angry citizens confronting one suspect. Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello called the acts "shameless, indecent and immoral". The opposition party Primero Justicia also alleged that some officials were exploiting the tragedy for personal gain.

Humanitarian emergency

Humanitarian agencies have warned of a deepening crisis. The UN's refugee agency, UNHCR, said food shortages were widespread, basic services had collapsed and communications were almost entirely interrupted in La Guaira, the hardest-hit region. The World Food Programme launched a $50 million appeal to feed 500,000 people over the next three months, while the World Health Organization raised concerns about the risk of infectious disease outbreaks caused by the breakdown of water and sanitation systems.

Witnesses

Among the survivors is 46-year-old Grian Serrano, a merchant who lived through both the devastating landslides and floods of 1999 that killed 782 people in the then Vargas state, and now the double earthquake. Trapped with his 8-year-old son and 69-year-old mother when their eight-storey building collapsed in Caraballeda, he dug through the darkness with his bare hands and rescued them. "La Guaira is cursed," he told the Associated Press. "It is not normal for such horrible things to happen in the same place."

Aurora Rodríguez has slept on a mattress outside her destroyed home for seven days, waiting for any news of her 25-year-old son, still buried inside. Volunteers have brought her food and water, but she refuses to leave. "He is the only person I have in my life," she said.