At least three Guyanese families have been displaced by last week’s double earthquakes in Venezuela where the death toll has risen to more than 1,700, foreign affairs minister Hugh Todd said on Monday.
The houses in which they were living have been destroyed.
“We have three families who have been affected and (Guyana’s) Ambassador (Dr Richard Van West-Charles) will be going to visit the community to see the extent of the damage and if anyone is injured,” he told Demerara Waves Online News.
Ahead of a visit to the area on the outskirts of Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, by Dr Van West-Charles, Mr Todd estimated that roughly 10 or 12 persons were affected by the back-to-back quakes last Wednesday.
There were no reported deaths among the Guyanese who live in a community of Caribbean people.
The United Nations on Monday said around 12,000 persons have been displaced and 5,000 others injured.
UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Venezuela Gianluca Rampolla told a briefing that the Venezuelan government had agreed to procure 10,000 body bags in anticipation of the death toll rising further.
Seven states have been affected, but the greatest concentration of casualties is in La Guaira state and the Distrito Capital of Caracas.
Around 2,500 structures were damaged, many of which have collapsed entirely.
Conditions on the ground remain hazardous.
Approximately 500 aftershocks have been recorded since the initial earthquakes, including a magnitude 5.2 tremor in the early hours of Monday morning, while a tropical wave is threatening to bring heavy rains to affected areas.
“We continue to operate in a high-risk environment,” Mr. Rampolla said.
The Guyana government and the private sector are mobilising at least 8,000 tonnes of supplies of rice, other non-perishable foods, pharmaceuticals and other necessities to load on to a Guyanese vessel for departure on Friday.
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