Caracas.- Venezuela estimates at 25,000 the number of homes that will be needed for the more than 17,900 people who lost their houses due to the earthquakes on June 24, for which the country will need resources like those that are “illegally withheld” abroad, reported the president of Parliament, Jorge Rodríguez, this Saturday.
In a press conference, he assured that the Venezuelan government will deliver the first 200 homes “next week,” without providing further details.
The senior official also believes that the number of homeless people “will surely increase” as the inspection process for buildings that suffered damage progresses.
The Chavista leader also updated the death toll, adding 215 newly recovered bodies, which brings the total number to 4,333.
This is one of the highest increases in the last two weeks following the earthquakes, as debris removal and body recovery efforts continue in La Guaira and have intensified in recent days.
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The number of injured, according to the report provided by Rodríguez, remains at 16,740, while 31,193 patients have been treated in hospitals and more than 90% have been discharged.
More than 300 unidentified dead
The brother of the official in charge, Delcy Rodríguez, also specified that there are 315 unidentified bodies and justified not providing figures for the missing because they cannot fall “into speculation.”
“As of yesterday, 315 people remained unidentified, as it was not possible to identify them because they were neither recognized nor, upon capturing their fingerprints (…) could we associate them with an identification; that is 7% of the total number of deceased persons,” he said.
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Venezuela has not offered an updated figure for weeks regarding those missing after the double earthquake—independent platforms place the number of people still not contacted at nearly 30,000—but Rodríguez assured that they are not hiding them, as since the day after the double earthquake they have been providing the number of people who died, which is the only certainty they have.
Furthermore, he also addressed criticism that the debris removal process is being slow, arguing that it must be precisely that way, as the Venezuelan government still trusts that there could be people alive buried.
More figures from the earthquake toll in Venezuela
The number of homeless people remains at 17,907 and that of families assisted at 86,794, indicated the Chavista, who also assured that 18,437 people are in a total of 94 temporary camps.
The report indicates that the number of affected buildings remains at 856 and the number of collapsed buildings at 190.
The deputy stated that 9,766 tons of food have been distributed, as well as 13.9 million liters of water.
In addition, the number of military personnel and security forces deployed (31,837) and the number of registered volunteers (30,197) continue to rise.
According to the official report, 1,203 aftershocks have occurred since June 24, including one of low intensity this very morning.
