Venezuela Earthquake Death Toll Tops 4,300

Venezuela's government announced Sunday that the death toll from the two earthquakes that struck on June 24 has climbed to 4,300. Parliament Speaker Jorge Rodríguez reported that 215 additional victims had been identified in recent hours, raising the count from the previous official figure.

The number of injured receiving treatment — at hospitals as well as rescue and emergency centers operated by countries providing assistance on the ground — now stands at 16,740. Of those, 6,462 were pulled alive from the rubble. An additional 17,907 people have been left homeless.

The government stated that burial teams have been operating around the clock since the earthquakes struck, and that burial operations are being accelerated given the scale of the catastrophe and mounting concern over the spread of disease.

Rodríguez also disclosed that 315 bodies remain unidentified, and defended the regime's decision not to release data on the missing — dismissing any such figures as "speculation." Speaking at a press conference in Caracas, he said: "As of yesterday, 315 people remained unidentified. They could not be identified because they were not visually recognized and it was not possible to match their fingerprints to any existing records. This represents 7% of the total death toll."

An estimated 30,000 people remain trapped beneath the rubble. The coastal city of La Guaira — located in the area hardest hit by the earthquakes — sustained the most severe damage, and search-and-rescue operations are continuing around the clock. Since the initial earthquakes, which registered 7.2 on the Richter scale, dozens of aftershocks have rattled the country. The most recent struck Sunday morning, registering 4.3.