US Reopens Venezuela Port as Earthquake Death Toll Surpasses 1,700

The United States reopened a major port in Venezuela on Monday to speed up the delivery of humanitarian aid as the death toll from last week's twin earthquakes climbed past 1,700, with tens of thousands of people still missing.

Five days after the powerful back-to-back earthquakes devastated entire neighbourhoods in the coastal state of La Guaira, rescue efforts have increasingly shifted toward recovering bodies as hopes of finding more survivors continue to fade.

At a temporary morgue inside a warehouse at La Guaira port, hundreds of bodies lay in white and black body bags or coffins awaiting identification, an AFP correspondent reported. Outside, grieving relatives waited anxiously for news while forensic teams worked to identify the victims.

"There were 11 people in my household; only two of us survived because we were at work," Wilker Molalla told AFP.

"My family is there -- I'm told my sister and her children are there, as well as the children of my brother," he said.

US Marines completed repairs to one of Venezuela's two principal ports, enabling humanitarian supplies and equipment to reach the disaster zone.

"The port of La Guaira is now operational, and the USS Fort Lauderdale is using the port to deliver critically needed supplies and equipment," the US military said in a statement.

US Air Force personnel are also assisting in restoring operations at Simon Bolivar International Airport near Caracas, which sustained damage during one of Latin America's deadliest earthquake disasters. The airport partially reopened to cargo and relief flights on Saturday.

Although the critical 72-hour rescue window has passed, rescuers on Monday pulled a 21-year-old man, identified as Aaron Levi, alive from the rubble in the nearby town of Tanaguarena after a complex extraction operation.

National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez said the official death toll had risen to at least 1,719. The United Nations' resident coordinator in Venezuela, Gianluca Rampolla del Tindaro, announced that the UN would provide the country with 10,000 body bags.

"It's very sad, and we truly hope that actually the number is going to be smaller than that," Rampolla del Tindaro told a virtual news conference.

The earthquakes, measuring magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5, struck on Wednesday evening, killing at least 1,719 people and injuring more than 3,150. The tremors were also felt in neighbouring Colombia and were Venezuela's strongest earthquakes in more than a century.

A magnitude-4.6 aftershock struck early Monday, according to the US Geological Survey, raising fresh concerns over the stability of hundreds of damaged buildings.

Rampolla del Tindaro said 27 countries had deployed more than 40 search-and-rescue teams to Venezuela, adding that at least 2,500 structures had been damaged, most of them collapsing completely.

The United States, which has played a leading role in supporting Venezuela since the ousting of longtime president Nicolas Maduro in January, doubled its disaster assistance from $150 million to $300 million.

Despite a handful of successful rescues, frustration has grown among Venezuelans who say the government's response has been too slow.

Luis Salas, a 27-year-old volunteer rescuer, described the emotional toll of the search efforts.

"The hardest part was when we felt hope in the tunnels we went into -- crawling, clearing debris, working with all our heart, with great faith -- and when we reached our targets, we found them lifeless," he said.

Public anger has also intensified in some of the hardest-hit communities.

Eduardo Cardozo, a volunteer in Tucacas, said many victims might have survived had rescue teams reached them sooner.

"It was frustrating to know that some people could have been saved if they had been searched for in time," he said.

On Sunday, residents confronted a group of soldiers, urging them to join rescue operations with picks and shovels instead of standing guard.

"The country needs you. Put down your weapon," one resident told the troops.

Meanwhile, parts of La Guaira have been hit by looting, with pharmacies, supermarkets and other businesses ransacked as desperate residents complained about the slow pace of relief.

Authorities said temporary camps were being established for those displaced by the disaster.

The UN's migration agency estimated that as many as 6.76 million people could be affected by the earthquakes and would require shelter, clean water, sanitation, healthcare and other essential humanitarian assistance.