Venezuela quake toll rises to 4,490 as government defends withholding missing figure

MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Monday, July 13th 2026 - 07:49 UTC

Rodríguez defended the government's decision not to release a figure for the missing, nearly three weeks after the disaster

The death toll from the twin earthquakes that struck northern Venezuela on June 24 rose to at least 4,490, after another 157 fatalities were added to Saturday's count, according to figures released by the president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez. The number of injured held at 16,740 and that of people rescued alive at 6,462.

Rodríguez defended the government's decision not to release a figure for the missing, nearly three weeks after the disaster. “We cannot operate on the basis of speculation, we have to operate on the basis of reality,” he told reporters in Caracas. He said authorities were not withholding information and that, since the day after the quakes, they have published the death toll because it is the only certainty they have. The last official figure for people unaccounted for dates from June 25, when it was put at 157. By contrast, independent citizen-run platforms have registered close to 30,000 people whom relatives have been unable to reach.