As Venezuela quake toll crosses 3,000, focus turns to burials

People hold a vigil in Caracas on Sunday for the victims of Venezuela's powerful twin quakes. PEDRO MATTEY/AP

CATIA LA MAR, Venezuela — Deaths from Venezuela's devastating twin earthquakes surpassed 3,000 on Sunday as officials began to bury dozens of bodies left unidentified days after the disaster.

The June 24 double shocks, one of Latin America's worst quake disasters, toppled scores of buildings in the La Guaira coastal area north of Caracas and left thousands of people missing.

As international rescue teams packed up and ended attempts to find survivors, attention shifted to mourning those lost and burying the remains that families have recovered from the ruins.

In a secluded area of La Esperanza cemetery in La Guaira, gravediggers buried more than 150 bodies still unidentified since the earthquakes, AFP journalists reported.