Local and international rescue teams worked Sunday to pull survivors from rubble in Venezuela's northern La Guaira state, four days after two powerful earthquakes struck the region.
The government reported 1,450 dead from the quakes as of Sunday afternoon. Thousands more have been reported missing. Rescuers continued to free some survivors from mountains of debris even as the likelihood of finding people alive diminished with each passing hour.
The response effort faced growing criticism from Venezuelans, who said the government's response was inadequate and overshadowed by civilian-led rescue operations. Local residents and volunteers have played a significant role in attempting to locate people buried under collapsed buildings.
Teams worked against time as search and rescue operations extended into the fourth day following the initial earthquakes. The scale of the disaster, with widespread structural damage across the affected area, presented substantial challenges for both rescue coordination and resource allocation.