00:00In Venezuela, the rescue efforts continue after back-to-back earthquakes, measuring 7.2 and 7.5, affected the country.
00:09Our correspondent, Luis Alberto Matos, continues to keep us informed, and he is now currently in La White State.
00:16Allow Luis Alberto.
00:29Good morning, once more, Lore.
00:31Good morning to our audience as well.
00:33As you were saying, we are currently here in La White, in Los Corales, where we have been deployed for
00:38a couple hours.
00:39In our case, my team specifically, but the resort has been here from day one,
00:43covering everything that is happening in La White after the back-to-back powerful earthquake 7.2 and 7.5
00:49that struck the Bolivar Republic on Wednesday, June 24th.
00:54What news updates I have for you right now is, as you were saying, rescue operation continues.
00:58There are still several places where there are hopes of people that might still be alive,
01:03so all efforts are being done by the Venezuelan rescue teams and by the international solidarity,
01:08the rescue teams that came from different countries, from over 120 countries that came here to Venezuela
01:12to support in the task, in the precious task, to save as many lives as possible.
01:18Over 6,000 lives have been saved already, have been rescued from the rubble since the earthquake hit last week,
01:24last Wednesday, June 24th.
01:26But more important also is the restoration of services in terms of power.
01:31We, early at dawn, we were driving around to see the outlook, the landscape of this region of La White,
01:38in Caraballada,
01:38and I can tell you that from this side to my left, backwards, everything has been restored in terms of
01:44power,
01:45the streetlights, the half lights.
01:47But, however, to my right, that is an area more devastated.
01:51There's a lot more destruction due to the earthquakes that way, and power is still to reach that area,
01:55although there are different generators in place to provide lighting at night
01:59and to provide also lighting for the people that are doing the rescue work amidst the rubble.
02:04Also, something here to my left is an area where people have gathered to receive,
02:10to receive the solidarity aid that the Venezuelan people have been receiving by Venezuelans,
02:15by foreign actors as well.
02:16It's right there to our left is kind of a stadium,
02:20and just minutes ago people were going there to receive all kinds of water, food, meals, sandwiches, soda, sweets,
02:29to be able to keep them nourished and to provide that desperate, necessary help that the Venezuelan people currently needs.
02:36And what's most astonishing of what we're seeing in the case of that help is the fact that the help
02:42is coming from all backgrounds,
02:43coming from all walks of life.
02:45We have seen young people, we have seen old people,
02:47we have seen also the Venezuelan authorities involved in supporting those solidarity groups
02:52that have come to provide help to the fellow citizens and the people that have come also from abroad.
02:57We were able to see different foreign organizations, one of many,
03:01that have traveled to Venezuela to provide support for the Venezuelan people in their hour of need.
03:07In terms of the rescue, as we were telling you, the rescue will continue,
03:10although the second phase has already started,
03:12they are carrying out, the Venezuelan authorities are carrying out both phase one, phase two simultaneously,
03:17the first one has to do with the search and rescue, which is ongoing.
03:21Until there is no sign of life, the search and rescue operations will continue.
03:27But the second phase is also ongoing, which has to do with the attention to people,
03:31with the care for the people, the comprehensive care that the people are currently receiving
03:35in this area that have been affected by the earthquakes.
03:37Remember, La Guara is the most affected.
03:39There are over 170 buildings that have completely collapsed here in La Guara State,
03:44and several others collapsed in Caracas, especially, and in other areas of the nation, especially to the north.
03:52But as decided, there were 180 buildings that collapsed.
03:55There are over 800 that have been damaged.
03:57Many of them will have to go down in order to be rebuilt again,
04:02because the infrastructure was severely damaged due to the impact of the powerful earthquakes.
04:06So this is the situation that we're having right now in La Guara.
04:09Work continues.
04:10It continues around the clock.
04:12The rescue teams also, both from Venezuela and from abroad,
04:16are carrying out with the task to try to save as many lives as possible,
04:18as the acting president has said from the get-go.
04:20The main objective of Venezuela right now is to save as many lives as possible before time runs out,
04:27which is the main enemy right now, and it's time,
04:29and that's why they are running around the clock to save as many people as possible,
04:33and also, in parallel, providing all the necessary help,
04:37all the necessary attention to the population that has been affected,
04:41to the vulnerable sectors of the population, like the early children,
04:44and to provide also all the psychological help for those families to move forward
04:48after experiencing this traumatic event,
04:50as well as those powerful back-to-back earthquake 7.2-7.5 that struck on June 24th.
04:55That's the situation that's going on right now. We have more updates.
05:00Thank you so much, Liz Alberto.
05:02We will follow closely the situation in La Guara State.
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