International rescue teams have joined an urgent search for survivors in Venezuela, where people remain trapped under collapsed buildings after two devastating earthquakes on Wednesday.Countries from across the Americas – including Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, El Salvador, Cuba and the United States – as well as the United Nations, continued on Friday to send search and rescue teams and humanitarian aid in the aftermath of the quakes. Authorities have raised their estimate of the death toll to 235 people.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list“To the Venezuelan people, to those whose loved ones are under the rubble, know that we are determined that help gets to you,” said the UN’s aid chief, Tom Fletcher.The earthquakes, measuring 7.2 and 7.5, were among the strongest to hit Venezuela in more than a century and were felt across the region.As well as the 235 people reported dead, 4,300 others are wounded, with hospitals “full of patients,” according to Venezuela’s Health Minister Carlos Alvarado. Hundreds more are believed to be trapped under rubble.‘We lost everything’Some of the worst damage is in the coastal state of La Guaira, north of the capital, Caracas.More than 100 buildings in the state have collapsed, and at least 70,000 families have been affected, said Venezuela’s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello.The region is also home to Venezuela’s main international airport, which has been closed due to damage.In La Guaira city, volunteers dug through wreckage with their bare hands as families waited for news of missing relatives. Advertisement Along the Caracas-La Guaira highway, streams of civilians headed towards the coast carrying water, food and medicine, stepping in as the scale of the disaster overwhelmed initial rescue efforts.“We lost everything. We have no food or medicines … We hope help arrives quickly,” said Pedro Per …
