The focus in Venezuela is shifting from search and rescue to providing medical assistance as a major health crisis is looming, João Almeida da Silva, one of 11 experts deployed to the disaster-struck country by the EU Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC), told Euronews.
"What we see is that there's going to be a huge need to support Venezuela," da Silva said on Euronews' flagship morning programme Europe Today. He was speaking from an operations base in La Guaira Stadium, one of the country's hardest-hit areas.
Two earthquakes of 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude struck just minutes apart on Wednesday last week, marking one of the South American nation’s worst disasters in over a century. The death toll from Venezuela's devastating back-to-back earthquakes surged to 2,300 on Thursday 2 July.
The European Union pledged €5 million to provide immediate help to the most affected communities in response to the increasing humanitarian needs caused by the earthquakes. Direct economic losses are expected to reach $6.7 billion (around €5.9 billion).
"I think the figures speak for themselves in terms of the people, especially the disappeared or missing people. What we see is that there is a massive health crisis looming that will unfold in the coming days or weeks," da Silva said, adding extreme heat and humidity are complicating efforts.
