Rescuers Search Venezuela Rubble After Twin Earthquakes Kill at Least 1,450

Rescuers are searching through rubble in La Guaira, Venezuela, after twin earthquakes struck the country on Wednesday and killed at least 1,450 people. The death toll is expected to rise. The main 96-hour window for finding survivors passed Sunday evening, BBC News reported.

Dozens of foreign teams, including the UK International Search and Rescue unit, are working alongside local crews. Teams use search dogs that can detect human scent up to 10 meters under debris and emit a strong sustained bark when they locate a possible survivor. Dogs are trained with scent-imprinted toys that serve as rewards.

Rescuers also shout into rubble while using local language and deploy seismic and acoustic listening devices that can detect scratching on concrete. Technical cameras on long poles provide 360-degree views, and some allow direct communication with trapped people. Micro drones nicknamed cockroach drones and thermal imaging equipment that detects body heat through rubble are in use.

Manual tools such as disk cutters, saws and angle grinders help breach concrete and obstacles. Bulldozers, diggers and cranes shift heavy debris, including multiple storeys of concrete. UK ISAR deputy national coordinator Lee Ivory said teams maintain the same level of detail as on day one.

Sakthy Selvakumaran of the charity SARAID described how cameras and thermal gear locate people out of direct line of sight.