'Major health crisis looming over Venezuela,' EU Civil Protection expert warns

The focus in Venezuela is shifting from search and rescue to providing medical assistance as a major health crisis is looming, João Almeida da Silva, one of 11 experts deployed to the disaster-struck country by the EU Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC), told Euronews.

"What we see is that there's going to be a huge need to support Venezuela," da Silva said on Euronews' flagship morning programme Europe Today. He was speaking from an operations base in La Guaira Stadium, one of the country's hardest-hit areas.

Two earthquakes of 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude struck just minutes apart on Wednesday last week, marking one of the South American nation’s worst disasters in over a century. The death toll from Venezuela's devastating back-to-back earthquakes surged to 2,300 on Thursday 2 July.

The European Union pledged €5 million to provide immediate help to the most affected communities in response to the increasing humanitarian needs caused by the earthquakes. Direct economic losses are expected to reach $6.7 billion (around €5.9 billion).

"I think the figures speak for themselves in terms of the people, especially the disappeared or missing people. What we see is that there is a massive health crisis looming that will unfold in the coming days or weeks," da Silva said, adding extreme heat and humidity are complicating efforts.

"We suspect now that health will be the critical issue for the next weeks to come," he said.

'Clock is ticking'

Rescuers continue to dig for survivors, but time is running out. "We are progressing, but unfortunately, the clock is ticking when it comes to the retrieval of possible survivors," da Silva said.

"Still, the teams are working. The Portuguese team has now for almost two days been working on one possible retrieval, but they had to stop on Wednesday morning due to structural problems in the building," he said, adding that hope remains.

This sense of optimism was in part sparked by the retrieval of 3-year-old Klieber Morán, who was pulled out of the rubble alive by a Jordanian rescue effort early on Tuesday after being trapped for six days.

"Every rescued person's story is a miracle story. Unfortunately, the figures are not what we would like to see, but of course, I think all the people we have managed to save have an impact on you," da Silva said.

The Jordanian rescue team is one of over 45 international teams deployed to the worst-affected areas, with Europe also contributing to the efforts.

"The EU responded immediately through the Union Civil Protection Mechanism," da Silva said. "The rescue teams were present almost from day one to coordinate, to facilitate and to work with local authorities to speed up access to the terrain as much as possible."

Frustration over state response

Reports are coming from Venezuela of local citizens expressing deep frustration over the lack of assistance from the army and the Venezuelan state following the earthquakes, with some criticising what they have called a slow, inadequate response.

Video footage has been shared showing private citizens and volunteers digging through the rubble with their bare hands. Asked whether he had witnessed this lack of support on the ground, da Silva said that it has been difficult to enter for aid organisations.

"We all know the political situation here in Venezuela, but this is the situation we are in. It's with the army that we have to work, they are the ones in control of the airport, of the port, so of our strategic points in terms of logistics to bring assistance in," he said.

The aid operations expert noted he couldn't comment on the presence of the state or the work it is doing.

"On our side, they are facilitating as much as possible. Of course, they were not ready for an event of this magnitude," da Silva said. He did however add that the situation has improved in recent days.

"We managed to develop a closer relationship so that we can continue to support them as much as possible."