LA GUAIRA, Venezuela — The increasingly desperate search for survivors in Venezuela entered a third day Saturday as people dug through the rubble of collapsed homes and apartment buildings after the devastating one-two punch of 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes, knowing time is running out.Limited time: Save 25% on NBC News subscriptionGet exclusive reporting, live Q&As and ad-free reading.A mix of international rescue teams, Venezuelans looking for loved ones and neighbors used shovels, heavy equipment, ropes and bare hands atop mounds of toppled concrete throughout La Guaira, one of Venezuela’s hardest-hit states.Aid agencies consider the first 48 to 72 hours as crucial for retrieving people alive, though that can be extended if they have access to food and water.The toll of Wednesday’s quakes stood at at least 920 dead and more than 51,000 missing on Friday.
People reported seeing few state rescue teams in the hardest-hit areas despite authorities projecting an image of a robust government response.Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said on state television Saturday that more than 14,000 members of the military and police are patrolling the area, where access is now blocked and special permits are required to enter.Rescue teams sent by governments across the world continued to arrive in Venezuela on Saturday.One runway at heavily damaged Simón Bolívar International Airport, which serves Venezuela’s capital, was operational as of Saturday, according to a senior U.S.
official who insisted on anonymity to brief reporters.The U.S.has deployed 80-person search and rescue teams from Los Angeles and Fairfax County with canines and equipment that were activated within two hours of the disaster and are on the ground pulling survivors from the rubble, the official said.
County and city teams from Miami are also en route, the official added.The U.S.
has also pushed out $150 million towards the disaster and is working on an additional package of nine figure...