AFP | Geneva

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Close to seven million people may have been impacted by the twin earthquakes in Venezuela, which have killed nearly 1,000 people and left tens of thousands missing, the United Nations estimated yesterday.

The UN migration agency said it had examined available population and damage data and had determined that “up to 6.76 million people could be affected by the devastating earthquakes that struck Venezuela on 24th June”.

The projections, which include up to two million people in Caracas alone, “highlight the potentially vast humanitarian impact of the disaster”, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) warned in a statement.

Entire buildings have crumbled in La Guaira, located to the north of Caracas, following devastating twin tremors of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 on Wednesday.

The national death toll stands at 920, while people remain trapped under the rubble in the coastal city and elsewhere.

And UN aid chief Tom Fletcher told AFP Friday that more than 50,000 people were missing.

IOM said it had worked with Microsoft AI for Good Lab on initial satellite mapping analysis, which showed that 31.5 percent of buildings in the town of Catia La Mar had been damaged.

Such assessments, it said, were helping humanitarian responders identify the communities most affected and to prioritize where to deliver life-saving aid, even as ground assessments continue.

“The first hours and days after a disaster are decisive. They shape everything that follows,” IOM chief Amy Pope said in the statement.

“IOM is scaling up rapidly: prepositioned relief items are already being deployed, and we are working with the Government and partners to deliver emergency shelter, essential supplies, and protection,” she added.

Warning that displacement was sure to rise in the country, which was already facing a humanitarian crisis before the quakes hit, Pope stressed that “a swift response is essential as we deliver life-saving assistance and support the people of Venezuela through the difficult days and months ahead”.