Venezuela exceeds 5,000 deaths following the double earthquake from more than three weeks ago

Caracas.- The death toll from the double earthquake of last June 24 in Venezuela rose this Friday to 5,069, after adding 139 new deaths, reported the president of Parliament, Jorge Rodríguez, who also detailed that the number of injured remains at 16,740.

The number of homeless people remains at 17,907, according to the report released on the Telegram account of the brother of the acting president, Delcy Rodríguez.

The authorities, according to Rodríguez’s report, have assisted 128,324 families affected by the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes, while 21,235 people are in 107 temporary camps.

Since June 24, the report added, 1,331 aftershocks have been recorded. The most felt one occurred on the morning of July 10, when a 3.9 magnitude earthquake was recorded 10 kilometers northeast of Naiguatá, in La Guaira state, the area most affected by the double earthquake.

The aftershock from a week ago caused panic among the population and building evacuations as a precaution.

The dwellings

The Government reported last weekend on the start of a biometric census to know how many homes are needed, although it estimates that there could be 25,000.

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On Tuesday, the Venezuelan Parliament approved a draft law reform to accelerate the construction of housing in the country, following the earthquakes.

The first vice president of the National Assembly, Pedro Infante, explained that this amendment to the Law against Real Estate Fraud -which must undergo a second debate for its final approval- seeks to guarantee better conditions with legal security and financing capacity so that the private sector can initiate an “aggressive process” of housing construction.