Venezuela Earthquake Toll Passes 6,000
The death toll from the powerful earthquake that struck Venezuela in June has passed six thousand, officials said, in one of the deadliest natural disasters in the country’s history. Thousands more were injured and many remain unaccounted for after the magnitude-7.2 quake and a strong aftershock. The scale of the devastation is still being counted weeks on.
The disaster has overwhelmed a country already crippled by economic collapse and years of political turmoil, straining a health system ill-equipped to cope. Whole neighbourhoods were flattened, and the cost of the damage has been estimated in the tens of billions of dollars. Recovery will take years, and questions have been raised over building standards and the speed of the government’s response. For Venezuelans, the quake has compounded an already desperate situation. Watch the final toll and the scale of the international relief effort.